Just The Way You Are
by lizzybennettdarcy
Summary: Rachel has lost her spark. She's forgotten who she really is. She will be really surprised when some very unlikely friends show her just how very special Rachel Berry is, just the way she is. I own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on.
1. The Situation

The cherry slushy dripping down her face should not have come as a surprise. The laughter and insults following her into the girl's locker room shouldn't sting the way it did either.

Dabbing at her ruined sweater with paper towel, the tears began to wash the slushy from her face.

"_Breathe. Just breathe." _Rachel thought to herself trying desperately not to think about the reason behind the first slushy attack in months. She fought for a moment before losing the battle.

Finn had done it again. She had walked in on him begging Quinn to take him back. He had grabbed the beautiful ex-Cheerio and kissed her when she refused to help him cheat on Rachel. A small noise escaping Rachel's lips, the two broke apart from their embrace. The last thing she had seen before she walked away was Quinn's apologetic face.

It didn't take long for everyone to realise that Finn had gone and dumped the loser again. She had been on her way to Glee practice that afternoon with her head held high when the football player reminded her who she without a popular boyfriend. She really should have expected a slushy sooner.

As she tried to wash the red beverage out of her hair and clothes she appraised herself in the mirror. She tried to remember a time when she liked what she saw. Noah talked her out of the nose job last year, but there was so much else that needed to be fixed. Her lips were too big, and her face too full. Her breasts weren't large enough and her stomach needed more tone.

"_No wonder Finn doesn't want to be with me."_ Rachel sniffled a little at the thought.

'For good' filled the air, startling Rachel from her thoughts. She quickly checked her phone and saw an anxious text from Kurt.

Kurt: Diva! Where are you? Glee started 5 minutes ago. You've never been late. Are you ok?

She texted Kurt back and told him about the slushy incident. She changed into the old hoodie Noah had given her the last time she had been slushied. Throwing her wet hair into a ponytail, she perfected her show smile and left the restroom.

As her feet took her closer to the choir room she tried to prepare herself for the sight of Finn and Quinn happily reconciled. She was surprised when she walked into the classroom to find Quinn sitting next to Rachel's normal seat at the front, as far from Finn as the seating arrangement would allow. Rachel quickly muttered an apology for being tardy to Mr. Schue who was glaring in her direction, and sat in the chair next to Quinn's. On her way to her seat she had spared Finn a glance and was surprised to see him glaring at her choice of attire.

The air was thick with tension over the recent breakup of Finchel. Even Mr. Schue didn't seem to have his mind on the lesson plan. Rachel found herself zoning in and out as Mr. Schue assigned their homework for the week. She was brought back to the moment very suddenly when she felt Quinn's hand intertwine with her own. She looked up and realised that Glee was over and only the two of them remained. She wondered briefly how long the two of them had been sitting there alone. Pushing the thought aside, Rachel opened her mouth to ask why she was there, but Quinn held up a hand and started talking.

"I meant what I said about us being friends Rachel. You were there for me during a very difficult time in my life. I was making a lot of bad decisions and you were the only person who stepped up and told me to grow up. Two months ago I would have jumped at the chance of being with Finn again, no matter who it hurt. But you helped me to grow up and move past all of the insecurities that caused me to let him jump between the two of us. I won't be with Finn ever again, and I don't think you should be with him either. You're beautiful and talented Rach. You deserve so much more than a boy stuck between two girls." Quinn squeezed her hand lightly and left the room.

She sat there reeling from what the beautiful blond had just said. Rachel was jostled from her thoughts by someone clearing their throat nervously. She looked up to find Noah standing in the doorway, looking more than a little confused by Quinn's monologue.

"I uh, just wondered if you need a ride home Berry? I know you usually ride with Frankenteen and it's too cold for you to walk home in that shortass skirt of yours." He said, running his hand over his Mohawk awkwardly.

"That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Noah." She said after she had recovered from the shock of Quinn's pronouncement.

She walked over to him and looped her arm through his as he threw her pink book bag over his shoulder. As they walked down the hallway together, she felt him bristle as they passed the cherry slushy all over the floor.

"Is this why you were so late for Glee?"

"Well you see word got around very quickly that Finn and I are not together anymore." She replied evenly as though it didn't bother her at all.

"S'no excuse. Don't you worry B. No one will be slushying you again," He paused for a moment looking down at her, before saying; "I heard what happened this morning. I also heard what Quinn said to you after practice. You ok, Berry?"

She felt something warm in the pit of her stomach when she heard the concern in his voice. She took a moment to figure out how to answer him.

"I'm humiliated that he cheated on me. I feel confusion and gratitude to Quinn for choosing me over Finn. I know I should be heartbroken Noah. I've wanted Finn more than anything other than Broadway since I was 15..." She trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"But?" He prodded gently.

"But I don't like him anymore. I love him. He was my first love. I don't know if there will ever be a time when I don't love him. But I don't like him anymore. I don't like that I'm not a priority to him. I don't like that he never sticks up for me and that he still looks at Quinn. I don't like that he's so easily embarrassed by me and I hate that he told you not to be my friend Noah. I hate him for that most of all. I hate myself for letting him take your friendship away from me. I hate that I let him make me feel bad about myself and that he caused me to doubt my talent and my future. I hate that he expects me to give up having my name in lights to live in a horrible house with a picket fence to raise his 2.5 children. He wants me to be a teacher, or a housewife. A housewife Noah! He wants to trap me because he can't imagine leaving Lima. I'm relieved. I'm so relieved that he did this. Am I horrible?"

Noah just smiled as her Berry rant continued. It had been a while since he had seen so much Berry in her. She had sort of slipped into dutiful girlfriend mode. Keeping her mouth shut when she would normally talk, shout or sing. She didn't smile as big or laugh as loud and her eyes didn't shine as brightly. He felt relieved too.


	2. The Cleanse

This is the first fanfiction I've ever written, so if you could drop a quick review and let me know what you think that would be great.

I don't own any of the characters or songs used in this story. Enjoy.

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><p>They made their way across the icy parking lot towards Puck's beat up red pickup. He opened the passenger door for her and held back a laugh as she tried to hop up onto the passenger seat. After a moment he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her in. He thought he heard her muttering something about being able to do it herself as he closed the door. He made his way into the cab of the truck and out of the lightly falling snow. Turning on the car he carefully manoeuvred them out of the empty lot.<p>

She hadn't spoken since she had gotten in the truck. She was too busy nervously playing with the hem of her sweater between her fingers. He realised belatedly that he had not answered her question about being horrible.

"You aren't horrible," He watched her jump and turn to face him with wide eyes. "Berry, this thing with you and Finn belongs in high school. He was stupid enough to end it again. He gave you up. I like relieved. I'll take relieved over tears and scheming any day of the week. Relieved works for me B."

She didn't answer right away, smiling softly instead. She took a moment to digest what Noah had said. She was getting a lot of free advice today. Normally she abhorred being told how to live her life. She was a star after all! She would need to journal about the events of the day when she returned home. She looked out the window and realised they were parked outside her house.

"_This is the second time today I've completely lost track of my surroundings. I must be having an off-day." _She thought with some irritation.

"You okay in there Crazy?" Puck asked with a smirk.

"Noah, I have told you several times I am in no way mentally unstable. If you would just..."

"I know, I know. Don't worry about it Shortstuff."

Rachel bristled at his comments and his insufferable smirk.

"Noah! I am of a perfectly average height! If you don't..." Rachel started only to be cut off once again. She hated it when people interrupt her.

"Whatever you say Rach. We can pretend that you aren't vertically challenged," He laughed as she huffed in annoyance. "Listen I have to pick up the brat from Mrs. Goldstein's house. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I will be perfectly alright. Thank you for the ride home this afternoon Noah," She gathered her bag and stepped from the truck. "Drive safely and say hello to Sara and your mother for me please."

She shut the door and scurried up the driveway trying not to slip on the ice. She turned around at the door and waved as he backed out and drove away. Letting herself into her house she noted how quiet and empty it felt. She neatly arranged her boats at the door and hung her colourful jacket up in the closet where it belonged. She would never understand how people could just throw their belongings on the floor.

Humming 'Someone like you' she made her way to the kitchen to fix a healthy snack for herself. As she prepared an apple with sliced soya cheese she noticed the answering machine blinking in the corner. She wondered briefly what her Fathers would like for dinner as she pressed the play messages button.

"Hello darling. Your Father and I had to leave town suddenly. One of my New York patients needed an Emergency C-section. Your Father decided to come along with me and check in with the associates at his New York office. We shouldn't be gone for more than a week. I know you don't like being left alone for long amounts of time Sweetheart, but it could not be avoided. I called Hannah Puckerman and she promised to keep an eye out for you. Noah will be driving you to and from school if Finn is busy. Also Hannah said you're welcome to spend as much time at her house as you'd like. We love you sweetheart! Call us if there are any problems!"

Rachel found her mood instantly souring. She was used to her parents being away from business, she was just having a hard day and she wished they were around. With a sigh, she grabbed her snack and trudged up the stairs towards her bedroom. She found herself singing 'Alone' quietly and decided she needed to do something to perk herself up. She opened the door and stood in the doorway taking a look at her surroundings. Images of herself and Finn assaulted her from all corners.

"_Maybe it's time to move on. It's easy enough to tell Noah that I'm over him. It's time to actually remove all reminders of our past love."_

She took a deep breath and grabbed a shoebox from her closet. Rachel walked over to her Ipod and searched through the music for a song suitable of the moment. She was Rachel Berry after all. Would she ever do something so important without music highlighting the event? She needed an uplifting song. She refused to wallow in self-pity. She told Noah she was okay and she would be. After a moment of two she found the perfect song for the moment and turned to the task at hand.

**I'm not surprised, not everything lasts  
>I've broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track<br>Talk myself in, I talk myself out  
>I get all worked up, then I let myself down<strong>

She started with the collage of the two of them that she had made over the summer. Pictures of them bowling, and singing together. Candid photos from pool parties taken by their friends. She took a moment to look at their facial expressions in all of them. She realised it had been months since they had looked at each other this way. She placed all of the photos individually in the shoebox.

**I tried so very hard not to lose it  
>I came up with a million excuses<br>I thought, I thought of every possibility**

She moved on to the photos on her dresser. She lost herself briefly looking at her favourite photo of them. He had taken her to an under 18 Karaoke bar for their first date when they had gotten back together after Regionals the year before. The two of them had been singing 'Endless love' on stage when the picture had been taken. They looked so happy and so in love at that moment.

**And I know someday that it'll all turn out  
>You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out<br>And I promise you, kid, that I give so much more than I get  
>I just haven't met you yet<strong>

She had been so happy that he had thought of the perfect date. It was so thoughtful and creative and showed just how well he knew her. Rachel thought it was a sign that they would last this time around. It wasn't until four months later that Kurt had accidently told her that Finn wanted to take her to the new horror movie until Noah had stepped in and suggested the karaoke bar.

**I might have to wait, I'll never give up  
>I guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck<br>Wherever you are, whenever it's right  
>You'll come out of nowhere and into my life<strong>

She tossed the picture frame into the shoebox and moved towards her jewellery box. She carefully placed the pieces he had given her over the course of their time together on the smooth wood of her dresser.

**And somehow I know that it'll all turn out  
>You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out<br>And I promise you, kid, I give so much more than I get  
>I just haven't met you yet<strong>

She fingered the delicate chain of the star necklace he had given her while they were broken up Junior year. She had thought it was really quite mean of him to give her such a sweet present after making it clear he was with Quinn. He had said she'd be a star one day, but he was so intent on keeping her here in Lima with him.

**They say all's fair  
>In love and war<br>But I won't need to fight it  
>We'll get it right and we'll be united<strong>

She shouldn't have been surprised to catch him cheating on her. They'd had a horrible fight two days before and she knew things could never be the same between the two of them afterwards.

**And I know that we can be so amazing  
>And being in your life is gonna change me<br>And now I can see every single possibility**

It had started just like every other argument they'd had this year. He had suggested she apply at some local schools as well as the ones in New York. This time he had taken it a step too far by suggesting her chances of getting in to a New York school were slim since she had been suspended for the ballot box incident.

**And someday I know it'll all turn out  
>And I'll work to work it out<br>Promise you, kid, I'll give more than I get  
>Than I get, than I get, than I get<strong>

She had been shocked into silence for a moment. When she was finally able to overcome her shock she found that she was shaking with rage. Digging her nails into her palms she tried her best to calm herself. As she did her best to control her emotions she realised he was still speaking.

"Rach, I don't know why you're so anxious to leave Lima. To leave me. We could have it all here. We could get married and have children. You could teach music or stay at home and raise our children! Wouldn't that be great? I don't understand why you're so desperate to go to New York. What if you fail?"

**Oh, you know it'll all turn out  
>And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out<br>And I promise you kid to give so much more than I get  
>Yeah, I just haven't met you yet<strong>

She had responded coldly that Lima would never be enough. She had talent and she refused to waste it in this horrible nowhere town. She had told him she couldn't think of a worse life than just being a housewife trapped in Lima. He had recoiled like her words caused him physical pain. Maybe they did. He had given her once last searching look and had left her alone in the auditorium. Looking out into the seating area she was glad that despite the location of their fight, no one had been around to see it happen.

**I just haven't met you yet  
>Oh, promise you, kid<br>To give so much more than I get**

The next morning Finn wasn't waiting outside her house to drive her to school. She had to walk and she deeply regretted her choice of her favourite black skirt by the time she made her way into McKinley High. He wasn't waiting at her locker with a sheepish smile and an apology for forgetting to pick her up. He wasn't sitting at their normal table for lunch and she didn't see him in between any of their classes. She figured that maybe he needed a day to cool off and lick his wounds.

**I said love, love, love, love  
>Love, love, love, love<br>(I just haven't met you yet)  
>Love, love, love, love<br>Love, love  
>I just haven't met you yet<strong>

She decided that maybe this song had been a bit too optimistic considering her current mood. She was very pleased when 'Take A Bow' came on next. She tossed the necklace into the box and the star earrings he had given her to match along with them. Next she moved in to her closet and threw his practice jersey and his basketball tshirt on her bed. She thought a little sadly that he had never allowed her to wear his letter jacket while they had been together. She folded the clothes and placed them on top of the rest of their things.

"**Now it's time to go. Curtain's finally closing. That was quite a show. Very entertaining. But it's over now. Go on and take a bow. But it's over now." **She sang the last few lines of the song.

She took a look around her room to see the results of her Finn cleanse. She noticed that her room was still warm and full of love. The bright yellow walls were still covered in pictures of herself and the people who loved her. There was a new photo of her and Quinn grinning at the camera completely covered in snow with their arms wrapped around each other. She really was glad that the two of them were becoming friends. She also felt so honoured that Quinn had chosen to be her friend over being Finn's girlfriend. There was one of Blaine and Kurt kissing either of Rachel's cheeks. One of her sitting on Artie's lap as he wheeled her around the Choir room had been taken earlier this month. She laughed as she looked at a photo of Brittany and Santana trying to destroy all of her animal sweaters. Her favourite was one of her on Noah's shoulders in a pool playing chicken with Tina on Mike's shoulders. She tried to remember where Finn had been but found that she didn't care all that much anymore.

'Sweet Caroline' filled the air and she dug her cell phone out of her book bag.

"Hey Shortstack. Ma said you were alone for the week. I'm in the mood for some Chinese food. I'll be there with the food and a movie in 25 minutes."

She decided to ignore the short joke and smiled at the fact that he had just invited himself over. She decided to have a shower to wash the day away before Noah arrived.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed the second chapter.<p>

The songs in this chapter were;

Someone like you – Adele

Alone – by the Glee cast

I just haven't met you yet – Michael Buble

Take a Bow – Rihanna or Glee cast

Sweet Caroline – Puck and the glee cast.

I'm not 100% certain where I'm going with this, so if you have any requests or advice drop me a review. Thanks.


	3. The Hang Out

I know this one is short, but I should have the next chapter up within the next 24 hours. I hope you enjoy.

I don't own any of the character or the songs used in this fiction.

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><p>Rachel wrapped herself in a towel and tucked her clothes from the day into her laundry hamper. She walked out of the bathroom and into her adjoining bedroom. Looking through the clothes in her dresser she decided on a comfy pair of yoga pants and one of her Daddy's Harvard sweaters. She braided her wet hair to the side and threw on some warm, fluffy socks before wandering downstairs to await Noah's arrival. She found herself nervously straightening her immaculately cleaned house as she waited. She hadn't expected to have company and she still wasn't sure that it was what she really wanted. She just hoped that Noah remembered to get some vegan options. Finn was always forgetting about her vow to never eat meat. She would never forget how sick she was the last time he had fed her meat.<p>

Her cell phone started blaring 'Take me or leave me', but Rachel chose to ignore it for the moment. She wasn't sure she was in the mood to talk to Mercedes tonight. The Troubletones had come back to Glee but Mercedes was still telling everyone she had left New Directions because she was sick of being Rachel's backup singer.

Headlights flooded the living room as Noah's truck pulled into her driveway. Rachel skipped to the door to help Noah with the food. She was pleasantly surprised when she opened the door to find not only Noah but Sam as well.

"Sam! I didn't know you were coming as well! I hope that Noah is well prepared and bought enough food for all of us!"

Sam just grinned at her as Noah rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't worry little one. I found Sammy boy wandering around in the snow and decided to bring him along. There's enough food to feed all of us and more. But don't invite anyone else woman! I plan on eating as much as I can fit in me. Sammy boy will help. Right Sammy?" Noah patted her head as he walked by just to get a reaction out of her.

"Hey Rach. I hope you don't mind me tagging along. Puck said he was coming over to hang out and he was bringing Avatar so I wasn't going to say no!" Sam blushed when the two of them laughed.

Rachel took his jacket and showed him where to put his boots. She admonished Noah for not hanging up his jacket because he knew better!

"Can I get either of you boys anything to drink?" Rachel asked trying to be the perfect hostess.

Noah had clearly beaten her to it though. He was walking out of the kitchen with forks and cans of pop for each of them. He had only been there for a few moments but he already had the living room set up to eat their food and watch movies.

Sam laughed at the look of surprise on Rachel's face and made his way over to the couch just as Rachel told Puck not to put his feet on her coffee table.

"Jeez woman I hear you." Puck said through a mouthful of noodles.

Sam laughed again as she muttered something about Puck being a total barbarian. He had never hung out with just the two of them but he found himself hoping it would happen again soon. The two of them could be hard to handle when they were alone so he had always figured they would be even worse together. He had heard the other Gleeks talk about the days of Puckleberry before, but he hadn't been at the school when they had briefly dated. Santana had said Rachel was actually kind of fun to be around while they were dating. Artie said that Puck sort of mellowed her out and she didn't feel like she had anything to prove so she didn't yell as much. Quinn told him that Puck had given up football just to be with Rachel before they had broken up. Brittany had told him her favourite fruit was Puckleberry.

"Noah! You're being rude. Did you even ask Sam if he wanted one of the three egg rolls you're devouring?" Rachel asked trying to sound indignant and failing miserably. Sam could see her lips twitching in reluctant amusement as Puck said something crude through a mouthful of food.

"I prefer springs rolls. But thanks anyways _Noah." _Sam laughed as Puck threw a chopstick at his head.

Rachel completely lost it when it hit him in between the eyes. She was laughing harder than he had ever seen her laugh. He looked at Puck who shrugged, clearly used to seeing her acting so carefree.

"I'm so sorry Sam. Are you alright?" She finally asked when she was able to catch her breath.

"Even with a chopstick lodged in my forehead I'd still be better looking than Puck." He said and she started to giggle again.

"Not a chance Trouty Mouth. Have you seen my guns?" Puck threw back with a laugh. Rachel's giggling turned into full on cackling.

Sam was amazed by how carefree she was at the moment. She was laughing to the point of tears and she seemed so happy. He snuck another glance at Puck and this time his look went unnoticed. Puck had the weirdest smile on his face. It wasn't his trademark smirk. Sam had never seen him smile before and found it very interesting the effect that the two had on each other.

"Alright midget, deep breaths. Sammy you can throw the movie into the DVD player." Puck got up and burped as he made his way back into the kitchen.

"How gross." Rachel sniffed with a scowl on her face.

This time Sam was the one who couldn't stop laughing.

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><p>Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing.<p> 


	4. The Movie

I decided to load another chapter today because it's a short one. Hope you enjoy it.

I don't own anything.

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><p>Puck walked back into the room with more pop for the three of them and settled onto the couch next to Rachel. She was a cuddler and he was sure as shit not letting Evans in on it. Shut up, cuddling with a hot chick is totally badass.<p>

Sam settled into the loveseat across the room and became so engrossed in the movie that he didn't notice Rachel and Puck grinning as he spoke along with the movie. He watched as Sully reclaimed Pandora for the Na'vi people and grinned as the credits rolled. He had seen this movie 107 times now and he loved it more every time he saw it. Stretching he looked over at the other couch and was surprised at what he saw. At some point Puck had wrapped his arms around Rachel and she had put her head against his shoulder. The two of them had clearly fallen asleep sometime during the movie. He decided that maybe the complexities of Avatar weren't for them...yet.

He quietly turned off the movie and pondered his next move. He knew Puck would be pissed if he woke them and ruined their blissful little moment. On the other hand he felt like a total creep sitting there watching them as they slept. Rachel seemed so peaceful though. Puck had told him what happened with Finn that morning and he wasn't looking forward to going home tonight. When Rachel and Finn both offered to let him stay with him Finn seemed like the easier (less crazy) choice. He's not sure why he expected more of the guy who stole his girlfriend last year though.

"Sammy Boy if you don't stop staring at me I'm gonna have to kick your ass." Puck mumbled sleepily.

Sam's answering bark of laughter woke Rachel as well as Puck. She jumped up and offered the two of them dessert after apologizing for falling asleep. Puck shot him a look of annoyance which he pretended not to have seen as he followed Rachel and Puck into the kitchen.

Apparently dessert was code for Rachel baking them chocolate chip cookies while they sat around eating ice cream and listening to music. Yeah he could definitely get used to being best friends with Puck and Rachel.

Puck watched her as she scurried around the kitchen preparing the cookie dough. He had been worried that she was more miserable than she had admitted to being. But she seemed...okay. Her eyes weren't as bright as they could be but they hadn't been for awhile. Finn had that effect on her and he was so glad that he wouldn't have the chance anymore.

"Need any help B?" He questioned half-heartedly.

"No thank you Noah. When you help me bake I spend more time cleaning up than baking." She answered lightly.

She had him there. The last time he "helped" her bake he had dropped the bowl of dry mix on the floor and then she had slipped on it. It was one of the funniest things he had ever seen. The background photo on his phone was a picture of her covered in flour head to toe as she scowled up at him from the floor.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of her singing along to Red Solo Cup with Sammy. He remembered how upset she had been when he called her and told her about Sam's big welcome back song. He shouldn't have been surprised that she not only knew of the song, but that it was her who suggested it for him to sing as a joke. She was just sad that she hadn't been able to be there to officially welcome him back to the club. She had been so sad about the team splitting up when Mercedes started spouting trouble. Troubletones indeed. That choir had way more ego and attitude than anyone could handle. He was relieved that they had come back but he noticed that Rachel and Mercedes still weren't talking. He was pretty stoked that Berry had talked Babymama away from the brink of insanity though. Girl was good at talking people out of doing stupid crap.

"They should be ready in half an hour! We could go upstairs and work on something for Glee if you'd like?"

The boys both nodded and followed her upstairs to her room. Sam sat on her bed and took in his very bright surroundings for the first time. Puck took a moment to notice all of the changes since the last time he was there. He was pleased to note that the Finn shrine had been taken down.

He walked over to her giant friend mural and studied the pictures there. He remembered the day that they had played chicken in the pool. It had been two weeks after Nationals and Finn had the flu so he had picked Rachel up and taken her to the party. She had been sitting on a lounge chair alone; clearly worried that everyone was still mad at her about Nationals. He had walked over to her and picked her up, tossing her in the pool before she had a chance to complain. He expected her to be furious when she came up for breath, but she had been grinning with bright eyes. He had dived in after her and the two of them were quickly included in a game of water polo and then later on a chicken contest. They had beaten all of the other couples easily. By the end of it even Santana looked impressed.

"That was a good day," She said quietly coming up behind him, smiling sadly. "It was the perfect high school experience with friends. I'm afraid that I haven't had many like it."

"Then let's have some more," Sam said getting up from the bed and walking towards them. "I know that a lot of drama happened while I was gone and that the team split up and everything. But maybe now is the perfect time to have some fun as a team. It's our last year all together. Why not enjoy it to the fullest?"

Puck nodded as he studied Rachel and waited for her response.

"I think I know of just the song to sing for the group!" She said clapping her hands excitedly.

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><p>I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks!<p> 


	5. The Morning After

Here's another chapter. I hope you're all enjoying this story.

I own nothing used in this story. Enjoy!

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><p>Rachel awoke precisely at 6:00 am the next morning. She spent a moment lying in her bed thinking about the performance they would be putting on that very day. She found herself nervous for the first time about a performance. Deciding she just needed to distract herself she threw back her pink comforter and rolled out of bed. She spent twenty minutes on her treadmill and focused on the new motivational paper that Noah had put up the night before. She had been slightly shocked when he put up a single piece of paper that simply said 'Be yourself B. Everyone will love you. Just the way you are.'<p>

She found herself wiping away a tear, but assured herself that it was in fact just perspiration. She had pushed herself this morning in her cardio routine. Rachel grabbed a quick shower and picked out two separate outfits for the day. She chose a red skirt and her favourite owl sweater. Noah told her to be herself, and she figured that meant going back to basics. She put her costume into a duffel bag and hurried downstairs for a quick breakfast before Noah picked her up for school.

She opened the fridge and selected two muffins that she had baked two days before. She assumed that Noah would not have eaten any breakfast and sustenance in the morning was so incredibly important for two growing teenagers. She also grabbed some juice boxes and put them in a paper bag along with the muffins as the doorbell rang. Rachel ran from the kitchen and opened the door to find Noah standing on her porch.

"Hey shorty. Better get a move on. If we don't hurry up you won't be two hours early. Oh the horror!" He greeted her sarcastically.

"Good morning Noah. I'm going to ignore your tone of sarcasm." She slipped her feet into her boots, grabbed her coat from the closet and followed him out the door. She locked the front door and walked to the truck where Noah was standing with her door open for her.

"_How gentlemanly." _She thought with some amusement.

She fiddled with the radio and was singing along to 'What the Hell' by the time Noah made his way into the truck. He snorted with amusement at her choice of music and started the car. Wordlessly she passed him his breakfast and tried not to laugh as he moaned with appreciation. She decided not to mention that they were a vegan recipe.

The rest of the trip passed in a comfortable silence interrupted only by the two of them singing or humming along with the radio. They pulled into McKinley High and Puck found a parking space close to the doors.

"I guess that's one good thing about getting here a year early. No one in the parking lot to fight for prime parking. However will I choose a parking space?" Rachel rolled her eyes and got out of the truck.

"Did you remember to bring your costume for our glee performance today?" She asked him as she waited for him to grab his bag.

"Yeah I got it little one. I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I forgot."

They made their way into the school and walked together to Rachel's locker. He leaned against the locker next to hers and watched her open her locker. She looked regretful for a moment and Puck took a look inside her locker and noticed that she had forgotten to take down all of the Finchel photos inside. He watched as she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She opened her duffel bag and took out a shoebox. She took down all of the photos and Finchel reminders and placed them in the shoebox along with what looked like everything Finn had ever given her.

"This was why I wanted to come early you see. I had actually forgotten about cleaning out my locker but I decided that I wanted to give Finn all of his things back with as small an audience as possible. These things can be very awkward and I didn't want people to be around to see it." She said quietly.

She looked up at Noah and he just nodded thoughtfully.

"Did you want me to stick around B?" He asked after a moment.

She decided that she very much wanted him to stick around but thought it would only make things more complicated than necessary. Finn had made his dislike of their friendship clear. She shook her head and he seemed to understand. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

"Remember B. Just the way you are."

She watched him walk away and tried to focus on the task at hand. She decided she needed to mentally prepare herself for this. She found her courage wavering and knew the only way to fix it. She hurried to the auditorium and marched onto the stage. She smiled at Brad who was sitting at the piano as if he had just been waiting for her. How convenient.

**Hush, just stop  
>There's nothing you can do or say, baby<br>I've had enough  
>I'm not your property as from today, baby<br>You might think that I won't make it on my own  
>But now I'm<strong>

**Stronger, than yesterday**  
><strong>Now it's nothing but my way<strong>  
><strong>My loneliness ain't killing me no more<strong>  
><strong>I, I'm stronger<strong>

**Than I ever thought that I could be, baby**  
><strong>I used to go with the flow<strong>  
><strong>Didn't really care 'bout me<strong>  
><strong>You might think that I can't take it, but you're wrong<strong>  
><strong>'Cause now I'm<strong>

**Stronger, than yesterday**  
><strong>Now it's nothing but my way<strong>  
><strong>My loneliness ain't killing me no more<strong>  
><strong>I, I'm stronger<strong>

**Come on, now**  
><strong>Oh, yeah<strong>

**Here I go, on my own**  
><strong>I don't need nobody, better off alone<strong>  
><strong>Here I go, on my own now<strong>  
><strong>I don't need nobody, not anybody<strong>  
><strong>Here I go, here I go, here I go<strong>  
><strong>Alright<strong>  
><strong>Here I go, here I go, here I go<strong>

**Stronger, than yesterday**  
><strong>It's nothing but my way<strong>  
><strong>My loneliness ain't killing me no more<strong>  
><strong>I'm stronger, than yesterday<strong>  
><strong>Now it's nothing but my way<strong>  
><strong>My loneliness ain't killing me no more<strong>  
><strong>Now I'm stronger, than yesterday<strong>  
><strong>Now it's nothing but my way<strong>  
><strong>My loneliness ain't killing me no more<strong>  
><strong>I'm stronger!<strong>

She finished the song and took a long over at Brad. He smiled at her, nodded and walked offstage. She sat down on the edge of the stage for a moment to catch her breath. Feeling much better she walked down the steps and out of the auditorium.

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><p>Songs used:<p>

What the hell - Avril Lavigne

Stronger - Britney Spears

Let me know what you think.


	6. The Confrontation

Here's the scene some of you have probably been waiting for. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Enjoy!

Just a heads up, There will be some swearing over the next few chapters.

I own nothing.

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><p>She gripped the box tightly as she made her way down the hall towards Finn's locker. If she had been paying attention she would have noticed that not only had the halls filled up, but that everyone watched as she marched down the hall with purpose. She approached his locker with confidence and tapped him on the shoulder. Finn had been talking to a pretty Cheerio when he turned around to see his very determined ex girlfriend. His eyes widened when he saw the look on her face and opened his mouth only to be cut off.<p>

"We never officially broke up even though it was clear that was what had happened when you kissed Quinn. I wanted to make sure that you were aware of the fact that we were over. For good. I have no intention of being with you anymore Finn Hudson." She said calmly and with enough volume to capture the attention of everyone else in the hallway.

Finn looked surprised for a moment. Then his surprise gave way to confusion. Rachel found herself trying not to join in on the snickering at the look of constipation that overtook his face.

"But you love me."

"That has nothing to do with anything. You don't love me Finn. I don't think you ever really have. If you cared about me you never would have tried to trap me in this nothing town. You would have supported my dreams and accepted my talent." She replied evenly.

"This is just because I kissed Quinn. I hurt your pride and you'll get over it. You'll forgive me and take me back. You always do." He answered smugly.

No one was expecting the answering smack that had Finn recoiling back into the bank of lockers.

"That was for kissing my friend while we were still dating."

"What the hell. You crazy bitch." The words were out of his mouth before he had thought them through.

Rachel's eyes sparkled with tears as she looked around at her peers and realised just how large their audience was. Many of them looked shocked, a few of them looked angry. She turned back to face him just in time to see Noah's fist collide with the side of Finn's jaw.

"Don't you ever talk about her like that you worthless piece of shit." He growled at his prone ex best friend who had fallen to the floor. He turned to Rachel and nodded in her direction before stalking down the hallway, the crowd parting for him as he went. She turned back as Finn struggled to his feet. He seemed torn between anger and remorse.

"Rachel I'm sorry about what I..." He was cut off by the shoebox that she thrust into his hands. "What's this?"

"It's all the remains of what I ever felt for you." She replied coldly and walked away from him.

She did her best not to notice the way that everyone was looking at her and whispering to their friends as she walked by. She felt a hand curl around each of hers as she walked out the front doors and didn't look up until she was on the bleachers by the field. Sitting down she looked up to see Quinn on one side and Sam on the other. Smiling gratefully, she sat with them in silence until the warning bell rang. She allowed herself to be pulled into a hug by Sam who kissed her on the forehead and whispered that he was proud of her before leaving the two of them alone.

Quinn stood beside her and wiped away the stray tears falling softly down Rachel's cheeks.

"You are so brave. And I know that this friendship is new but I am so incredibly proud of you." She said simply before leading Rachel back into school and dropping her off at her class. Quinn squeezed her hand lightly and walked towards her own class.

Rachel steeled herself for the attention that would inevitably follow a confrontation like the one she had taken part in earlier. She walked into her Chemistry class and found herself sighing in relief when she saw Noah sitting in the back at their usual table. She had been worried that he'd need longer to calm down after hitting Finn. He smiled up at her and waved her over. She sat down beside him and realised how much attention her seat choice was receiving. Wavering in her decision for a moment she looked around the room at the other available seats. Noah made an impatient noise through his noise and flipped them all the bird before hooking his ankle around hers in silent support.

"Are you alright?" he asked her with eyes full of concern. She stared at his bruised knuckles for a moment before responding.

"I'm quite alright Noah. I did not expect our little meeting to go well. I would be lying if I said that I expected him to be so cruel, but what's done is done. Thank you for defending me. You know that I abhor violence and I hate that you risked receiving severe punishment considering your juvenile criminal record..." She found her eyes tearing up yet again.

"But?"

"But it means so much to me that you stuck around even though I told you that you didn't have to. You risked physical injury to defend my character. Although slightly barbaric, I find your intentions admirable and dare I say it; sweet." She finished with a watery smile.

Puck was uncomfortable with all of her praise and his ears suddenly felt very warm.

"S'not sweet Berry. I'm badass." He said while nudging her with his shoulder.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed the confrontation. Please review. Thanks!<p> 


	7. The Aftermath

Hey guys! Thanks so much to everyone who's been reviewing. This is my first fanfic and I was really nervous about posting it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

I own nothing.

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><p>Rachel did her very best to pay attention during her morning classes. By lunchtime her classmates had stopped staring, although she did hear some whispering as she made her way to the cafeteria. She walked through the doors and headed to her usual lunch table. She sat down next to Blaine and Kurt and opened her lunch bag.<p>

The two boys exchanged glances after watching Rachel open her Tupperware container and start to eat her salad. Kurt cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows when she didn't acknowledge him. Blaine stifled a chuckle and leaned over smacking a kiss on her cheek. When she turned to face him he wiggled his eyebrows at her and stuck out his tongue. Her startled laugh gained the attention of everyone around her.

"Thanks Blaine. I needed that." She said wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes.

"Any time Maria, I'm yours babydoll." He deadpanned despite Kurt's irritated huff.

"I love you too Tony."

"Alright Diva. If you're done stealing my boyfriend, I'd like to hear about what happened this morning. Right from the source." Kurt's glare softening as he noticed the tension in Rachel's shoulders.

"She's not ready to talk about it. When she's ready we all know she'll sing about it instead." Quinn shot Rachel a smile as she sat next to her.

Rachel mouthed a 'Thank You' to Quinn and returned to eating her salad. Blaine quickly changed the subject to the community production of 'Wicked' that he had seen the night before. Rachel quickly became involved in the conversation and made plans to see it the next night.

Puck watched her from his seat across the cafeteria where he was sitting with the football players during an impromptu football meeting that Coach Beiste had called. He smiled when Blaine kissed her cheek and felt his chest warm as her heard her laughter. He made sure to nod every once in awhile as he watched Kurt upset Rachel. He was about 5 seconds away from walking over there and being in major shit with Beiste when Quinn came up and saved Rachel. He watched Rachel mouth Quinn a 'thank you' and decided she'd be alright. He turned his attention back to Beiste just in time to hear her say that the next football player to fight or cause a fight would be off the team and in detention for the rest of the semester. He and Finn glared at each other from across the table and nodded at her. Beiste got up and left the cafeteria and Puck and Sam left the jock table as well. No way he'd ever willingly sit with those losers during lunch again.

"Noah! Sam! We were just making plans to see the local production of 'Wicked' tomorrow night. Would you like to accompany us?"

"I'll take a look at my calendar B." He said throwing her a grin.

Puck looked over at the rest of the gleeks and found Kurt damn near hyperventilating. His eyes were whipping back and forth between Rachel and Puck with an uncomfortable enthusiasm. Boy sure had a nose for gossip. Blaine shot him an apologetic glance and Puck knew that he'd calm him down before he said something stupid.

The warning bell rang and all of the students stood up and gathered their belongings and headed for the doors. Rachel walked alongside him and he threw his arm around her shoulders, smirking at Kurt as they walked towards her locker. She grabbed her books for her next class and smiled at Puck before heading to her English class. He decided to take a nap in the nurse's office. He didn't feel like dealing with Schue in Spanish class. He knew he had heard about the fight by now and he knew Schue would pissed and he wasn't dealing with that until Glee. He threw a smile at the nurse and laid on his favourite bed and shut his eyes.

Rachel found herself incredibly glad that she and Finn had no classes together this semester. Today had been awkward enough without adding tension in classrooms as well. Her afternoon classes passed by uneventfully and she found herself trying to psyche herself up for Glee. She deposited her things in her locker and walked towards the choir room with her best show smile. She was 50 feet from the choir room door when she felt her steps slowing. She wasn't sure she was ready for this. They had prepared a song for the group about having fun with the hopes of unifying them all. No one was going to buy into what they wanted after the drama of the morning.

Sam approached Rachel who appeared to be having a mini-panic. He called her name a few times and finally lifted her chin and waited for her eyes to meet his.

"You have nothing to be afraid of. You haven't done anything wrong and they know that."

She stared at him for a moment as self-doubt clouded her eyes.

"People don't like me Sam. They'll take one look at me and then..." She started to reply sadly before Puck cut her off.

"Screw 'em. You're doing the right thing here B and if they don't like you afterwards then they're not worth your time. You're Rachel fuckin' Berry. Remember that." He said with a fire in his eyes that surprised both Sam and Rachel.

Sam took the moment to silently slip away into the choir room while the two squared off.

"Say it with me Rachel. Screw 'em," He challenged. "Or maybe you believe that you aren't good enough. Maybe they're right?"

She looked at him for a moment and straightened her slumped posture.

"I am Rachel Berry!" She started and he nodded appreciatively. "If they don't like me just the way I am, well they can go screw themselves!"

He smiled as she drew herself up and gave him attitude.

"Perfect."

He smirked at her and walked into the choir room. She stood there for a moment and realised he had Jedi mind tricked her into believing herself. She smiled and walked into the choir room without a single doubt in her mind.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed it. Please review, Thanks!<p> 


	8. The Speech

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I had just finished writing the most important chapter (ch. 9) and by far the longest when my laptop died and I lost the whole thing. I wasn't able to recover it and I was super bummed so I rewrote it last night. I've got the next four chapters written so the updates should be daily from now on. Heads up about the swearing again.

I own nothing.

* * *

><p>Rachel walked confidently into the choir room and took her seat in between Noah and Sam at the front. She rolled her eyes as Noah and Sam high-fived above her head. She jumped when she felt Santana lean down from her seat behind her to whisper in her ear. She also noticed that Noah immediately tensed.<p>

"Your little show in the hall earlier took some major balls Hobbit. I guess I see why Puckerman here likes to keep you around. You're actually kind of hot when you're all riled up. But if you get up there and sing some horrible love song to Finn because you're sorry, I'll cut you. Then I'll tie you to this chair and make you watch as I create a bonfire using your ugly sweaters as fuel. Got me Chica?" Santana hissed in her ear.

"Down Satan." Puck answered reflexively even as Rachel grinned up at Santana and nodded. If Santana was surprised by her reaction it didn't show on her face. She winked back at her and went back to her conversation with Brittany about Lord Tubbington's book club. Apparently he was reading 'The Help' and really enjoying it.

Mike moon-walked his way into the room and headed over to Rachel. He fist bumped Puck and Sam before tugging on one of Rachel's curls.

"You ready for this Berrybaby?" He shot her a quick grin when she nodded before joining Tina on the third riser.

Mike had been surprised to get a call from Rachel the other night asking for his help. He arrived at her house to find Puck and Sam looking over some freshly printed sheet music. She had quickly explained what she wished to accomplish with the performance and asked for his help choreographing the dance portion. She had said something about the dancing being more important than the actual song. They had spent the next few hours learning the choreography and just having fun. Mike had been surprised by how much they all laughed. He had expected Rachel to be depressed about her breakup or very controlling and demanding about the performance. She had just sat back and watched him dance and then she had laughed and joked around while learning the choreography. Everyone would be expecting another 'Jar of Hearts' or 'No Air'. He was so excited to be a part of this performance. He was hoping that Mr. Schue would consider it for Regionals.

"What was that all about?" Tina asked with something akin to envy in her eyes.

"You'll see baby. I think you'll really like it." He said kissing away her concern.

Quinn walked in and sat next to Sam who welcomed her in Na'vi. Rachel was in the middle of apologizing for allowing him to watch Avatar again when Mercedes walked in. She took one look at the seating arrangement and shot a glare at both Quinn and Rachel. Rachel made a mental note to question Sam about their relationship status later.

Finn skulked into class with what was clearly a black eye and tried to capture Rachel's attention as he slowly made his way to his seat in the back row. Puck noticed this and immediately engaged Rachel in a thumb war. They were in the middle of a thumb battle royale when Schue cleared his throat from the front of the room. Their heads shot up to find Schue glaring in their direction. Clearing his throat he turned to face the rest of the club.

"Now that I have everyone's attention I feel that we should talk about what happened this morning."

"Mr Schue if I may." Rachel interrupted him and stood to face the rest of the group.

"Here we go again white girl." Mercedes made no attempt to lower her voice as she rolled her eyes.

Puck glanced at Rachel just in time to see the hurt vanish from her eyes, a steely determination taking its place.

"Shut your fucking mouth Jones." Puck barked at her just as Santana said, "Go drown yourself in tots you miserable bitch."

Rachel saw Mr. Schue turning red and Mercedes working herself into a diva rage and decided to continue quickly.

"Noah and Santana thank you for defending me but I assure you both that it is unnecessary. Mercedes I understand that you no longer enjoy my company but if you could just be polite and listen to what I have to say it would be greatly appreciated." Rachel's comments were met with silence which she took to mean she could continue.

"First I would like to address the issue of the incident in the hallway. Mr. Schue I personally think that it is incredibly inappropriate for you to interfere in my breakup with Finn. And bringing it up as a group is totally unacceptable and completely unprofessional." She put up her hand as he opened his mouth to defend himself. "Furthermore, I think it is a negligible waste of our time to focus on such trivial personal issues when we could be preparing ourselves for competition. I understand your concern after the confrontation in the hallway this morning but it isn't anyone's business but the people who were directly involved. Finn and I took a risk when we started dating knowing that if it didn't work out then it might be awkward. That risk did not pay out and we will face the consequences. We will behave professionally and not allow it to hurt our fellow glee clubbers."

She took a look around the classroom and realised that most of them were looking at her in disbelief. Noah nodded at her to continue. Glancing at Mr. Schue she continued.

"Even before the final demise of 'Finchel' we haven't been functioning as a team. Our group is back together in name only. Many of us are continuing to let past hurt keep us from moving on as a cohesive unit. Therefore, I will be the first to do so. Mr Schuester; I am willing to look past the fact that Finn cheated on me and called me a crazy bitch in front of the whole school." She almost laughed as he raised his eyebrows and turned to look at a sheepish Finn. "But I need you to promise not to be short-sighted whenever Finn in involved. You had every intention of yelling at me for causing trouble and at Noah for so gallantly defending my honour. You would have looked past the fact that he had hurt and humiliated me and that is wrong. I know that I can be hard to handle. I'm obnoxious and I dream big. But I'm sick of being called selfish. I have done a lot for this Glee club and I have given my all. This is our last year together and I want to make it count. I'd love to win Nationals, but it pales in comparison to my desire for us to be friends again." She took a breath and looked over to her friends in the front row and smiled.

"I've decided that I'd like to enjoy the rest of our final year together. I want to look back on our final year and not remember that we became so divided that we split up the club. I want to remember pool parties and epic dance parties and singing until our voices are gone. Memories filled with laughter and tears of joy," She looked up at Blaine and Kurt and returned their proud smiles. "On that note, I'd like it very much if you'd all meet us in the auditorium in 10 minutes. We've prepared a fun song for you to enjoy."

Rachel then turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving the club in stunned silence.

"Who the hell was that girl?" Finn muttered in confusion.

Puck opened his mouth to snap at him but Santana beat him to it.

"That was Rachel Berry, bitch. You were right Puckerman, she does kick ass."

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><p>Thanks for reading! Please review.<p> 


	9. The Performance

Here's the performance chapter. I've had to rewrite it a couple of times because of computer fails but I think this one might be better than the original drafts. I hope you like it.

I own nothing.

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><p>Rachel stood backstage nervously playing with the hem of her plaid vest. She looked at herself in the stage mirror and admired the costume she had put together. She was wearing a sleeveless red plaid button-up over a tight black tank top. She had decided on tiny jean shorts instead of jeans as she figured that dancing would be easier. She wore a pair of scuffed up cowboy boots from her summer vacation to Texas two years previous. A cowboy hat covering her messy 'just rolled out of bed' curls rounded out the outfit. Even Kurt would be unable to find fault in her sexy cowgirl style.<p>

"Mike's almost ready and the band has the music." Sam said appearing in the mirror behind her.

"What if they don't like it?" She mumbled in concern.

"They'll love it Rachel." Sam replied with a smile.

"We've been over this Berry. If they don't like this or you then they're not worth your time and they can fuck themselves." Noah said appearing from the changing area.

"Noah! Language." Was her only reply as she fixed his collar. He shot her a quick grin before dropping a kiss to her temple and disappearing to where he would enter stage right. Mike ran out of the change area and hooked his thumbs into his belt loops as he danced over to his place at stage left, eliciting a laugh from both Sam and Rachel. Rachel thought they all looked very handsome in their matching plaid shirts, jeans, cowboy boots and hats.

Finn slipped into a seat at the back of the auditorium silently fuming at Rachel for humiliating him in Glee. Mr. Schue had kept him back and said he was disappointed in him for cheating on Rachel and then belittling her in front of her peers (whatever that means). Mr. Schue always takes his side and he's so upset that he defended Rachel. He doesn't understand why she thinks that this is only his fault. If she had just been willing to stay in Lima with him he never would have cheated. He's never understood her unwavering faith that she'd make in on Broadway. Yeah she's got a good voice but she's not half as pretty as Quinn. She had better not embarrass him further by trying to make him jealous by singing with Puck again. He still owed Puck an ass-kicking for interfering in the hall that morning.

Mercedes was giving Kurt and Blaine the silent treatment a few rows ahead of Finn. She couldn't believe it when they attacked her for being 'rude' to that annoying little gremlin. She had just laughed and ignored what they were saying. She didn't understand why people suddenly liked Rachel. She's still the irritating, selfish, solo-hogging brat she was when glee started two years ago. She was furious when Puck and Santana defended her. She wasn't surprised that Puck had jumped to her defence. He'd been Berry's little bitch since they dated in sophomore year. Santana had hated Rachel more than anyone since grade school though. Maybe she thought she was hot or something, stupid whore. Mercedes was also really sick of Sam following Rachel around like a lost puppy. He hadn't looked at her in days, only looking disappointed when she made fun of Rachel earlier. He was supposed to be trying to get her back. If Diva thought she could have Sam as well as Puck and Finn she'd get a very rude awakening in the form of a beatdown. She huffed angrily and tried to make herself more comfortable. She didn't feel like watching a Rachel-centric performance with Sam panting after her on stage.

Santana glanced up at the clearly angry Mercedes and an irritated Finn, grinning smugly. She couldn't stand either one of them. Mercedes was all attitude and there wasn't enough talent to back up her bitching. Finn was a freaking joke. Even before he shoved her out of the closet she hadn't liked him. He was arrogant and a total hypocrite. She would never understand why girls as strong as Berry and Q let him jerk them around. Looked like bitches had figured some shit out and were done with Beluga boy though. God she hoped the Finchel/Fuinn saga was finished.

She glanced at the stage and wondered what song they would sing. She had meant what she said to Berry about relapsing into her Finn mania. She was actually kind of awesome when he wasn't around. Singing 'I kissed a girl' in front of the whole school? Bitch was fearless. And stupidly loyal considering all Santana had put her through since grade school. It didn't take a genius to see that something was going on with Puck and Rachel, although she doubted that they saw it. Rachel was still feeling her way around in the new Finchel free zone and just seemed stoked to have friends for the first time. Santana shifted in her seat guiltily knowing that Rachel struggled so much socially partly because of the things Santana had done and said.

Puck was her boy but wasn't the sharpest when it came to his feelings. Boy probably still didn't know that he started the slushy tradition because he saw how many boys were lining up to date Berry. She had been standing beside him when Azimio said he'd like to get under one of those skirts. Less than 60 seconds later Berry was covered in Puck's grape slushy and everyone was laughing. The only person more surprised than Berry was Puck himself. He looked at her in horror before quickly fixing his features into a smirk. He singlehandedly guaranteed that a daily slushy would damage her reputation enough to make her totally un-datable. He just didn't realise he did it to keep her available for himself. Santana's train of thought was interrupted when Brittany asked her why Lord Tubbington wasn't allowed to come to classes. She listened as Brit insisted that he was smarter than everyone else so he deserved equal opportunity. Santana suggested she use her position as Class President to do something about it.

Mr. Schuester settled into his seat next to Miss. Pillsbury and leaned forward. He was curious to see what they would sing. Despite their differences over the years, he found himself strangely proud of Rachel for trying to bring the group together instead of letting the drama pull them apart again. He shushed the kids as the lights dimmed.

As the music began Puck and Mike sidestepped onto the stage meeting in the middle before starting a four walled line dance. They went through the motions once before sidestepping back to their original sides as Sam and Rachel appeared. Sam began singing as he and Rachel moved in unison to the center of the stage.

**I Been working so hard**

Sam and Rachel joined Puck and Mike in the four walled line dance they were doing in their respective corners.

**I'm punching my card**

Sam kicked his foot out to the left alongside Rachel.

**Eight hours for what**

Slapping the inside and then outside of their boots.

**Oh, tell me what I got**

They all slapped the inside of their boots again before pivoting to face the next wall. Rachel joined in singing for background vocals.

**I get this feeling**

They dragged their feet to the left and clapped.

**Times just holding me down**

They dragged their feet to the right and clapped.

**I'll hit the ceiling**

Sam and Rachel tilted backwards and then forwards. Puck and Mike jumped and did splits in the air.

**Or else I'll tear up this town**

Rachel and Sam spun out of formation to face the front. Puck and Mike continuing their walls as Puck joined Sam for the chorus.

**Tonight I gotta cut loose, footloose**

Sam reached for Rachel's hand and spun her once.

**Kick off your Sunday shoes**

They kicked their legs out in sync to the left then right. Rachel dropped his hand with a smirk.

**Please, Louise, pull me off of my knees**

Sam drops to his knees and pretends to beg.

**Jack, get back, come on before we crack**

Rachel dances over smiling wickedly at his outreached hand before putting her boot on his chest and kicking him onto his back as he frowns.

**Lose your blues, everybody cut footloose**

She moves away and Sam hops up and dusts himself off before hooking his thumbs in his jeans and continuing to dance with a smile on.

**You're playing so cool**

Sam directs his attention to Rachel who's dancing up against Puck as he nervously tugs at his collar.

**Obeying every rule**

She dances over to the center where Sam grabs her hand and spins her over to Mike.

**Deep way down in your heart**

Mike catches her and tries to pull her close before she shakes her head and pushes him away with a coy smile at his pout.

**You're burning yearning for some**

She finds herself surrounded by the boys in a triangle formation as she shimmies her hips a little before winking at the crowd.

**Somebody to tell you**

The three boys stay in their triangle formation as they all shuffle step forwards to the left. Rachel smiles at Mike.

**That life ain't passing you by**

They all shuffle step to the right. Rachel messes up Sam's hair.

**I'm trying to tell you**

Rachel removes her hat before circling it in front of her and putting it back on her head. She places a hand on Puck's chest and sticks her tongue out at him.

**It will if you don't even try**

She continues to flirt with the crowd as the boys dance closer to her, sharing an evil look as Puck grabs her from behind. She struggles desperately, clawing at his arms. All three boys sang the next line.

**You can fly! **

Puck and Mike throw her high and as she soars through the air, she arches her back holding her ankles.

**If you'd only**

Rachel lands gracefully next to Sam looking irritated. She joins in the line dancing with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Mike joined Sam for the chorus.

**Cut loose, footloose**

She dances towards Mike.

**Kick off the Sunday shoes**

She pushed him hard and he does a back flip.

**Oo-wee Marie, shake it, shake it for me**

She makes her way to Puck and touches his face before slapping it lightly as soon as his hand rests on her hips.

**Woah, Milo, come on, come on let's go**

She continues dancing as Puck trips over himself in shock landing on his backside.

**Lose your blues, everybody cut footloose.**

Sam dances over and pulls Puck to his feet, whispering in his ear as a smile appears on his face. Mike spins Rachel away to whisper in hers.

**We've got to turn you around**

Mike and Puck begin to clap to the beat as Rachel and Sam engage in a dance off.

**And put your feet on the ground**

Sam steps forward and tips his hat at her as he moves his feet to the beat.

**Now take a hold of your soul**

Rachel curtseys mockingly as she moves in and does a complicated spin step. Puck and Mike join in to sing the chorus.

**I'm turning it loose**

Puck steps forward with Sam and smirks over at Rachel.

**Footloose, kick off the Sunday shoes**

Sam changes dance styles a bit and throws in some break dancing.

**Please, Louise, pull me off of my knees**

Puck mirrors Sam's dance moves two beats behind him.

**Jack, get back, come on before we crack**

The two of them salute at Rachel and Mike who pretend to look defeated.

**Lose your blues, everybody cut footloose**

Sam and Puck are congratulating themselves when Rachel grins as she and Mike step forward. Mike lifts Rachel and he tosses her in the air only to catch her at the very last moment inches from the ground. They tried not to smile as they heard gasps in the audience and followed with twin pirouettes and a bow. Rachel joined Sam to take the last chorus.

**(Footloose) footloose**

Sam and Puck start clapping to the beat and nod approvingly. Rachel soaks up the praise and moves to center stage swaying her hips with her hand on her hat as she sends a flirtatious look over her shoulder at Sam.

**Kick off the Sunday shoes**

Puck and Mike begin a more complicated one walled line dance as Sam set his sights on Rachel and shuffle steps towards her.

**Please, Louise, pull me off of my knees**

Sam rests his hands on Rachel's waist with her back against his chest and moves his hips in time with hers. Rachel tosses her hat into the crowd.

**Jack, get back, come on before we crack**

Rachel throws her arm up behind his neck, pulling him closer as his hands slowly trail down to her gyrating hips.

**Lose your blues, everybody cut, everybody cut**

They continue to sway together in a sultry dance as if they're all alone.

**Everybody cut, everybody cut**

Sam spins Rachel so that they're facing each other.

**Everybody cut, everybody cut**

Sam pulls her closer as they continue to shakes their hips. She runs her fingers through her hair as she and Sam look at each other.

**(Everybody) everybody cut footloose**

Puck and Mike nail synchronized back flips as Sam tugs one of Rachel's legs up around his hips and dips Rachel so low that her hair is touching the floor.

There's silence for a moment and they can hear themselves breathing heavily before the crowd is screaming and applauding the performers. Sam righted Rachel and pulled her into a hug. She found herself squished in between the boys when Noah and Mike joined in. Noah winked at her and mouthed a 'told ya.' She laughed aloud as she heard Santana yell "Hell yes, Sexy Bitches!".

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><p>I hope y'all enjoyed the performance. Drop me a line to let me know what you think.<p> 


	10. The Choir Room

Here's the post-performance chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Some of you maybe have noticed that I changed the rating to 'm' and it's solely because of language.

I own nothing.

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><p>Rachel threw her cowboy hat in her duffel bag along with her school clothes. Noah walked out from the changing area still dressed in his cowboy attire sans hat as well. The two of them appraised each other and laughed as they waited for Mike and Sam to finish changing. Mike was the first to emerge with a thumbs up. They all started laughing again when Sam walked out wearing normal clothes and his cowboy hat. He took a look at the others and smirked.<p>

"I told you guys that cowboys kick ass." He said simply before leading them out of the room.

"Those short shorts more than make up for the lack of tiny skirts lately Berry." Puck whispered in Rachel's ear as he dropped his arm around her shoulders.

"I'll have to keep that in mind Noah," She said giggling at his Puck-ish compliment. "Have I ever mentioned that I find something incredibly attractive about cowboys?"

Sam turned to Rachel and tipped his hat at her and she giggled when Noah shoved him lightly into a locker.

"She was talking about me Sammy boy."

"That's what you think." Sam said as he ran into the choir room laughing.

They followed Sam into the choir room to another loud round of applause and appreciation. Santana walked over and pushed Puck out of her way before pulling Rachel close.

"Berry, have I ever told you how hot I find you? Now that you're single..." She trailed off with a suggestive smile.

Rachel looked at Noah's awestruck face and said she'd keep her offer in mind.

"So. Hot." Noah breathed out with hazy eyes before wrapping his arm around Rachel again and pulling her to their seats in the front row. Rachel giggled at his reaction and turned her attention to Mr. Schuester who had stepped up to the front. Puck settled his arm around the back of her chair and lightly played with her curls.

"Great performance guys! I loved the amount of work you put into it. Your energy was fantastic and the chemistry was palpable. Most importantly, the four of you looked like you were having the time of your lives. I have no critiques." He said over the sound of more cheers and high-fiving.

"I really enjoyed it Diva! Who came up with the concept?" asked Kurt.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Mercedes began angrily. "Only Rachel would think up a song and dance with three guys panting after her as she acted like a whore on stage."

"Mercedes! That's completely uncalled for!" Mr Schuester replied with volume.

"She's not wrong Mr. Schue. She obviously only did this to make me jealous." Finn said as he scowled over at Rachel who looked as if she might cry. His scowl deepened when he saw Puck's grip tighten on her shoulder as he flipped Finn the bird.

"Actually, I choreographed the song." Mike spoke up from his seat at the back.

Everyone's attention turned to the normally shy dancer.

"She uh, called me the other night. She asked me to help her with a project for Glee. I figured she would want to make Finn jealous. But when I got there she was hanging out with Sam and Puck too." He flinched when he heard Mercedes mutter 'slut' under her breath. "She explained that she wanted to do something fun for the Glee club. She just picked the song. She said something about how Sam's voice was perfect for the country song and that she'd like it if I would back up sing and dance with her and Puck."

"She didn't do much backing up Mike. She stole the damn show." Mercedes shot back.

"Well that's 'cause that's how I arranged it. We tried out the choreography and it just worked better that way. It was all my idea," He drew himself up and jutted his chin out. "So if you're going to be such a bitch about it than maybe you should yell at me instead."

No one said anything for a few moments. They were all surprised to hear Mike speak so passionately in defence of Rachel. None of them had heard him swear before either.

"Looks like Mike wants Berry too. Worried Chang?" She asked with venom looking at Tina.

"That's enough Mercedes," Blaine cut in forcefully before Tina could respond. "You've said what you wanted to say. Rachel prepared a fun song for the club and you're ruining it. I think I speak for everyone when I say no one wants to hear you open your big mouth again today."

Mercedes looked over to Kurt waiting for him to back her up and he shook his head at her. She glanced over to Sam where he was sitting next to Rachel. He gave her a look of confused disappointment before turning to smile at Rachel. She growled in annoyance and turned to face the front where Mr. Schuester was standing.

"Well Rachel, Puck, Sam and Mike I speak for almost everyone when I say that your performance was fantastic. Keep up the good work." He said before turning to the white board. "You've given me an idea for this week's assignment. I want you all to come up with a song that we would have fun singing as a group. I'd also like for there to be at least two group numbers with at least eight people involved performed by next Tuesday."

He smiled at them and dismissed them for the day.

Rachel stayed in her seat as she watched Finn and Mercedes rush out of the room. She was upset that Mercedes had so blatantly attacked her after their performance. She looked away from the door to see her friends looking at her.

"I'm fine." She said.

"Of course you are." Quinn said sarcastically with a smile.

Artie rolled over and high-fived her.

"Your performance was fantastic. Loved the song. You were a very believable slutty cowgirl." He said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed when she realised that he was teasing her. Sometimes it was hard to tell when her friends were just kidding. She was so used to Finn's backhanded compliments and people belittling her. She figured that having friends would take some getting used to.

"Hey Midget, we're going to the mall. You in?" She smiled and nodded when she realised that Santana's voice held more affection than malice.

As Noah pulled her out of her chair and into his side she realised that 'We' meant everyone except Finn and Mercedes. She decided she was going to enjoy having friends as Brittany linked pinkies with her.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know.<p> 


	11. The Food Court

Here's the next chapter. It's a lot lighter than the last one but it has some important conversations. Enjoy!

I own nothing.

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><p>The ride to the mall had found her squished in between Noah who was driving and Brittany who was playing with her hands.<p>

"I don't know why anyone ever called you Manhands. You have really soft, girly hands." Brittany said as she turned them over in her own.

Rachel smiled over as Noah snorted in response.

"And your hair is really soft and shiny," Brittany said as her hands left Rachel's and started threading their way through her hair instead. "Could you tell me which shampoo you use so I can buy some for Lord Tubbington?"

Rachel noticed Noah looking over at Brittany in fondness instead of laughing.

"I could bring some to school tomorrow for him to try." She responded kindly as Brittany hummed in agreement.

Puck pulled into the parking lot of the local mall with a grin on his face. All he needed was Satan to complete the Trifecta of his favourite girls. He slipped out of the truck and waited for Rachel and Brittany. He nodded as he saw the rest of the Gleeks approaching. He briefly wondered what security would think about a mob of a dozen teenagers converging on the mall. The group quickly split up into groups so he figured it would be ok. Santana, Brittany, Quinn and Kurt went to find new clothes. Mike, Tina, Rory and Artie headed to the music store to find some new music for their assignment. Blaine, Puck, Sam and Rachel decided to head to the food court. Puck and Blaine stood in line to grab their food while Sam and Rachel went to find a table.

"Are you alright Sam?" Rachel asked when she realised he hadn't really spoken since the performance.

He looked at her for a moment as he tried to choose his words.

"I'm sorry she was so mean to you." He replied.

"Who? Mercedes? Sam you don't need to apologize for her." She answered quickly, hoping that the boys wouldn't be along too quickly. She wasn't sure he'd talk with anyone else there.

He sat there quietly as he considered her words. She studied him and realised how upset he really looked.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's going on between the two of you? I know that you said you'd fight for her when you came back To McKinley. Are you still planning on doing that?"

"She isn't who I thought she was," He began softly. "I seem to have a really bad habit of picking girls like that."

She watched him for a moment as she thought about his dating history. It was true that he'd had some bad luck when it came to the girls her dated. Quinn had cheated on him and Mercedes seemed intent on keeping him as a backup.

"Mercedes has always been..." she began as she fumbled around for the right words. "I don't know how to describe her politely."

He laughed in surprise and her eyes widened.

"I don't mean that she isn't lovely. She's just, very stubborn. Some might even call her pigheaded, which is something I can relate to. But she's always been a very self-conscious girl. Shane, although I disagree with his methods has made her feel good about herself. He forced her to feel good about herself actually."

He frowned at the implication that being with him hadn't been enough to make her feel good. Seeing the look on his face she continued quickly.

"She was happy with you Sam. I think you made her feel beautiful. But Mercedes is...greedy in some ways. Once she had felt good with you, she wanted more than just to feel good. She became quite power hungry while you were gone. She yelled about not getting enough solos but was too lazy to ask for them. She refused to share the stage with me as Maria and quit Glee just so that she could shine all alone."

"I don't even recognize her anymore."

"She isn't really herself anymore. She went from being self-conscious to incredibly arrogant. She threw away all of her friendships because she craved the spotlight. Something I can relate to once again. The difference between the two of us is that I always wanted friends; I just struggled with making them. I yelled about becoming a star because I had nothing else. She wants the spotlight and doesn't care about the people she hurts along the way."

"Why did she come back to Glee then?" He wondered aloud.

"The Troubletones were finished. Also, Quinn promised that they would be able to perform one of their songs at each of our competitions. There was no way Mercedes was going to give up the spotlight that was available to her Sam."

"I don't want to be with her. She keeps flirting with me and then flaunting Shane in my face." He muttered glaring at the table.

"She's keeping you as a backup. Just like Finn did with Quinn and I." Rachel said angrily. "You deserve so much more than that Sam."

He nodded at her and she was relieved to see that Sam agreed with her. He was such a kind boy and he deserved better than the way he'd been treated. He deserved better than to feel how Finn had made her and Quinn feel.

"As for Quinn," She began lightly as he looked at her with interest. "She's not the person she was when you dated last year either."

"What do you mean?"

"She was a broken little girl last year. A little girl who had been forced to grow up in all the wrong ways when her world came crashing down at 15. She had a child growing inside of her for 9 months before she handed her away to a total stranger selflessly. She and Noah handled the pain of that decision differently. He drove his truck into an ATM and spent months in juvenile detention." She lost her concentration for a moment as she pictured poor Noah in a jail cell.

"And Quinn?"

"Quinn pretended that there had never been a child. She blackmailed her way back onto the Cheerios. She became hard and cold again. She let you in though. She let you see the girl she really was in some ways. I doubt she talked about Beth, but she was real with you sometimes." She said with confidence.

"Then why did she cheat on me with Finn?" He asked her with some irritation.

"Finn represented everything that she was forced to give up when she became a mother. And no matter where Beth is, Quinn will always be a mother. She'll just be a mother without her child and that's incredibly heartbreaking. When Finn showed interest in being with her again she deluded herself into thinking she could go back to how she used to be. She desperately needed to not feel like a mother. She convinced herself that Finn was the future she would have had if Beth didn't exist. What she did was horribly selfish and cowardly. She pushed her very real feelings for you aside and projected them onto Finn. She hurt you and you didn't deserve any of it. You were such a kind and thoughtful boyfriend Sam. But I understand why she did what she did. She wasn't ready to deal with everything that happened in sophomore year until recently. She made a bad decision, but people who are as broken as she was make bad decisions. Just take a look at some of the things she's done this year." She finished her speech and pretended not to notice when Sam wiped his eyes.

"Yeah that tattoo is pretty horrible." He said with a chuckle as Puck and Blaine joined them.

Sam saw Puck looking between the two trying to figure out what was wrong. Dude was incredibly perceptive for someone who plays so dumb. He smiled at Puck and shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, Noah! You remembered to buy only vegan food for me!" She exclaimed staring at him in awe.

"Rach, you've been a vegan since we were kids. How could I forget something that important?" He replied as he took a huge bite out of his burger.

Taking a bite out of his own, Sam noticed that Rachel's eyes flashed with some unknown emotion before she shot Puck the biggest real smile he'd even seen from her. He had heard about the night when Finn had fed her meat. Finn was such a freaking idiot. Puck had been ready to beat the hell out of him after spending the night holding Rachel's hair as she threw up and cried. He had said that Jesse throwing eggs at her had been horrible, but feeding her meat should be cause for decapitation. Sam was drawn from his memories when the girls and Kurt joined them with shopping bags. They sat down before digging into the fries that Puck had bought for the group.

Rachel watched as Quinn sat next to Sam. She fought a grin when she saw the smile he gave her as she stole one of his French fries. Blaine kicked her under the table and she noticed that he was fighting a grin as well. Apparently subtly still wasn't one of her strong points.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. Thanks!<p> 


	12. The Walking Dead

Here's the next chapter. I hope everyone's still enjoying the story.

I own nothing.

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><p>After hanging out with her friends in the food court Noah had taken her over to his house for dinner with his family. After a delicious meal she had helped Sara with her homework before Noah had driven her home. She had thanked him for helping her so much lately and gone inside feeling perfectly content. As she fell asleep that night she thought to herself how incredibly lucky she was.<p>

Quinn had picked her up the next morning for school and they had sung along to a Nickelback song with their very best Chad Kreuger voices. They were both wiping tears of laughter away as they walked into the school. Rachel grinned as the glee clubbers waved at her and greeted her as she walked towards her locker with Quinn. Noah had showed up at her locker and they had walked to their class together. She had found herself concentrating happily throughout all of her classes as she sat with her friends. She sat with most of the glee club at lunch as they pushed tables together passing their lunches around.

The rest of the week passed in a whirlwind of laughter and music. When Rachel had decided that she wanted to enjoy the rest of her final year, she'd had no idea that it would be so easy. She'd had so much fun this week as she renewed friendships and explored new ones. This being the reason she found herself cuddled on her couch beside Quinn on Friday night. She stretched her legs out as the credits rolled for 'I am number four.'

"I know that Noah thinks the Aussie chick is really good-looking, but I think that Sarah was much prettier." Rachel stated to break the silence.

Quinn had just smiled in response and tossed a pillow at her head. Glancing at the clock on the wall her smile got even wider.

"We should invite some of the others over Rach. We could work on another song for the Glee project. I know that Artie and Rory bought some sheet music that they thought would be cool to sing next week."

"That's a fantastic idea Quinn!" Rachel replied before spending out a mass text message to the whole club.

Quinn grinned as she followed Rachel into the kitchen. Rachel had insisted that if they were to have guests over then they would need to be good hosts. Quinn sat back in amusement as she watched Rachel bake with a flourish. Quinn suggested pizza and they decided to wait until everyone got there so they would order the right amount of food and the right kinds of pizza. Thirty minutes later, Rachel had a batch of chocolate chips cookies in the oven and cupcakes cooling on the stove just waiting to be iced. The doorbell rang just as Rachel pulled the cookies out of the oven. The two girls exchanged grins as they raced to the door. Getting there slightly ahead of Quinn, Rachel pulled open the door to find everyone standing on her doorstep. She and Quinn moved aside as everyone walked inside and out of the cold. Noah walked in last and started laughing as he looked at the two of them.

"Cute pyjamas, ladies." He said with a smirk as he followed the others down to Rachel's basement.

Rachel and Quinn looked at each other and burst into laughter as they realised they had forgotten to get changed. Quinn shrugged her shoulders and looped her arm through Rachel's as they followed the others out of the room.

Quinn immediately suggested pizza as they all made themselves comfortable on the couches. Everyone seemed excited and they started making their preferences known. Rachel looked around at the group, frowning slightly when she realised that Mercedes and Finn hadn't shown up. The only hitch in her perfect week had been the dirty looks Mercedes and Finn had been shooting in her direction whenever they crossed paths in the hallways.

"Maybe they'll come next time." Tina whispered from her place next to her on the couch.

Rachel smiled at her and decided to enjoy herself anyways. It was their choice to exclude themselves. She had invited them and that was all she could do at the moment.

The group spent the night pigging out on pizza and Rachel's baked treats. They also spent some time brainstorming for what songs they'd like to perform in Glee. Once they had narrowed it down to two songs they broke into two groups to plan the songs out. Rachel's group went upstairs to work in her living room, while Quinn's stayed downstairs to work on theirs.

Rachel sat down at the piano with Rory as Noah grabbed his guitar so that they could arrange the music. Brittany and Blaine worked out the choreography for the song together. Santana used Rachel's laptop to look up various covers of the song that they had chosen. Santana had teased Rachel for somehow turning their hangout into a glee practice minus the choir room and the drama. When Rachel had looked slightly offended Santana had smacked a kiss to her cheek and ruffled her hair before turning back to the laptop.

After an hour or so Rachel had declared that it was the weekend and they should leave the rest until tomorrow. Everyone had quickly agreed and settled onto her couch to watch the first season of 'The Walking Dead'. Within minutes some of the girls were crawling into the laps of the person next to them and hiding their faces. Puck snorted as he realised that only Rachel seemed unaffected by the violence onscreen. Even Santana was looking nervous as Brit hid her face on her shoulder.

Rachel watched as Sam wrapped an arm around a clearly scared Quinn. She leaned her head against Noah's shoulder and settled in to enjoy the zombie marathon.

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><p>Let me know what you think. Thanks!<p> 


	13. In The Morning

Here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing!

I own nothing

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><p>Rachel closed the door behind Noah and Santana and turned back to face Quinn. The two of them shared a smile before they headed to the kitchen to clean up the mess from Rachel's baking. The two of them worked side by side at the sink singing 'You and I' softly as Rachel passed Quinn the soapy dishes to dry. They had just finished a thrilling rendition of 'Use Somebody' when Quinn dried her hands and tossed the dishtowel on the counter. She turned to Rachel and smiled.<p>

"I'm sorry that it took me so long to realise how special you are Rachel," Quinn paused for a moment as her eyebrow's wrinkled in thought. "No, that's not it at all. I always knew that you were special. I'm sorry that it took me so long to stop resenting you for it."

"I don't really understand why you resented me for anything Q. You're beautiful and popular." Rachel replied in confusion.

"You are so completely different than anyone else. You do your own thing and it works for you. You don't apologize for who you are and your belief if your talent has never wavered." Quinn looked at the floor to avoid Rachel's gaze. "It's why I tortured you for years. I wanted you to doubt yourself. Mainly because I've never been brave enough to believe in myself even a fraction of the way that you believe in yourself. "

Rachel just smiled and pulled Quinn into her arms. She squeezed her for a moment before letting her go.

"I forgave you a long time ago Quinn. There's no reason to apologize." Rachel said kindly as she headed for the living room.

Quinn followed her and watched her for a moment from the doorway as she picked up the pizza boxes and fluffed the pillows.

"Popularity doesn't mean a thing Rach. No one at our school is popular because of who they really are. This makes you better and braver than all of them." Quinn smiled at the surprise on Rachel's face. "I look the way that I do because didn't love myself the way you do. And for the record, I've always thought you were beautiful."

"Thank you." Rachel said simply. "You still have the same smile you know. Finn showed me the picture of you before you had surgery. And Lucy still shines through."

Quinn wiped away a tear at Rachel's kind words and followed her up to her room for the night. The two of them crawled into Rachel's bed and Rachel turned off the light.

"Quinn? I'm happy that we're friends too." The two of them fell asleep with smiles gracing their faces.

**You escaped like a runaway train  
>Off the tracks and down again<br>And my heart's beating like a steam boat tugging all your burdens  
>On my shoulders<strong>

In the mourning I'll rise  
>In the mourning I'll let you die<br>In the mourning all my worries.

Rachel rolled over and pushed the 'off' on her alarm clock. She looked over at Quinn who was smiling in the direction of the window where the sun was shining into the room. She found it surreal that the angel lying next to her was her friend. She had always thought there was more to Quinn underneath her cold, bitchy exterior. Quinn turned towards her and smiled.

"I really like that song. Her voice is really pretty. You should sing it sometime in Glee." Quinn said as she stretched her arms over her head.

"I love Paramore. Hayley Williams is my non-broadway hero."

The two of them got up and padded down the stairs to eat breakfast. Rachel offered to make Quinn some vegan waffles but the Blond opted a bowl of cereal instead. The two sat quietly as they ate their breakfasts and then headed upstairs to shower. Rachel gave Quinn some shower supplies and a towel and showed her to the guest bathroom. Rachel headed to her own bathroom and had a quick shower. Rachel stepped out of the shower and into her bedroom.

She turned on her IPod and walked over to her dresser to pick out her outfit for the day. The club planned on coming over and working on the two songs today so she figured comfy dance clothes would be best. She grabbed a pair of black tights with large decorative roses and a tight black tank top. She threw on a loose tee cover-up and warm socks. Sitting down in front of her vanity she ran her fingers through her damp hair and decided to just leave it to dry. She felt a deep sense of relief when she realised that she didn't feel the need to impress anyone today. She knew that they'd like her no matter what she wore.

"Hey thanks for the shower. The water pressure is unbelievable." Quinn sighed in content before throwing herself on Rachel's bed.

Rachel looked over to Quinn who was wearing a similar comfy exercise outfit as she heard a car pull up. She got up and walked over to the window as Noah exited his truck. As if sensing that he was being watched he looked up and a smile immediately graced his chiselled features. She grinned and waved at him before tearing out of her room to meet him at the door. Quinn peeked out the window before following Rachel with a smile on her face. She stayed back a little as she watched Rachel throw open the door and throw herself at Puck. He caught her and chuckled as he placed her back on her feet.

"I will never understand how you're so chipper in the morning Berry." He said as he checked her out appreciatively.

"Noah I'll have you know that the morning is my favourite time of day! The sun shining through my window when I wake up and breakfast is so important." She narrowed her eyes at him when he told her that he hadn't eaten any.

Quinn snorted as Rachel started pestering him about the importance of breakfast. She started to follow them when Santana burst through the door. The two grinned at each other as they walked in on Rachel was digging through the fridge for ingredients to make him some vegan waffles. Santana and Quinn sat at the table with Puck as they watched Rachel whipping around like the force of nature that she was. As Rachel slapped Puck's hand away from the blueberries, Santana and Quinn shared a look that clearly said the same thing. They could get used to days like this.

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><p>Music used - In The Mourning -Paramore.<p>

Let me know what you think. Thanks!


	14. The blush on my cheeks

Hey guys, sorry I didn't update. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I own nothing.

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><p>Rachel woke up Monday morning feeling incredibly content. She began her exercise routine as she thought back on her weekend. Everyone had come back on Saturday morning and had spent the day working on their two glee numbers. After hours of laughter as they perfected their songs they had retired back into the basement to have a movie night. After watching The Help for the girls and Iron Man 2 for the boys, everyone had said their goodbyes and headed home. Sunday morning she woken up to find Noah on her doorstep with a grin. He had taken her to his favourite diner where Quinn and Sam had met them for breakfast. Rachel had been amazed by their vegan options and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Somehow the four of them had found themselves back at her house having a massive snowball fight. When they were all wet and exhausted they had gone inside for hot chocolate. It had been the perfect weekend. She had taken many pictures and had already added a few to her wall of memories.<p>

Rachel picked out an oversized sweater and tights for the day. Wrapping a belt around her waist and curling her hair she finished the look with the tiniest amount of mascara. Hurrying down the stairs she stopped by the kitchen for some of the muffins she had baked the day before. She skipped out the door after shoving her feet into her warm boots. She smiled when she saw Noah leaning against his truck in the lightly falling snow. She ran towards him and in her haste slipped on the ice just as she reached him. Throwing his arms out, he caught and steadied her with a chuckle.

"Careful there beautiful, don't want to land on your cute little ass do you?" He asked as he opened the door for her.

Rachel was surprised to find herself blushing at his comment and turned her face from him in embarrassment. She had regained her composure by the time he reached his side of the truck.

"Thank you for picking me up this morning Noah." She said as she handed him a muffin.

"S'no big thing." He responded through a mouthful of muffin.

She played with the radio the whole way to school. Her rendition of 'Sex on fire' caused Noah to choke on his muffin and his eyes to bulge a little bit. Clapping him on the back as he parked she laughed out loud.

"Seriously baby, don't mention sex like ever. That shit's hazardous. Unless of course you're asking." He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively and for the second time she found herself blushing hotly. Leaving the truck quickly she started towards the school.

Puck watched as a blush crept up on her face and across her neck in some surprise. He was always making jokes like that but she had never reacted before. She usually rolled her eyes or smacked his arm. Smirking, he threw his arm around her shoulders and stored that image away for later reflection. They were walking towards her locker when they both stiffened at the sight of Finn making out with a cheerleader up against Rachel's locker.

"What the fuck." Puck cursed.

"It's quite alright Noah." Rachel replied as she lightly pushed them onto the next locker and opened her own.

Puck just stared at the girl in shock. There was no way that she was ok with Finn kissing another girl against his locker was she? Grabbing her by the shoulders he turned her to face him and examined her eyes. All he saw was confusion. Looking over her shoulder he saw that Finn was no longer playing tonsil hockey with the cheerleader. He was glaring at the two of them for ignoring him. Puck laughed and turned back to Rachel as she started talking.

"If Finn wants to kiss other girls it is none of my business Noah. I don't particularly appreciate that he felt he needed to do so against my locker. But I feel that I'm justified in this feeling since it was more than likely done with malice. I'm not jealous or upset," she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Although given his kissing partner's history I am more than tempted to sanitize my locker now."

Puck just laughed harder as Finn roared in irritation and stomped away. He thought he saw a flash of amusement cross Rachel's features before he left for his own locker. He grabbed his books quickly and headed for his first class. Sitting next to Rachel he settled in for a very long boring lecture.

Rachel found her mind wandering to the confrontation in the hallway. She had really hoped that Finn would behave with some dignity. She was becoming very frustrated with his behaviour. She was trying to unify the glee club and he was acting like a child. She decided that maybe he should no longer be a co-captain of Glee. Deciding to talk to Mr. Schuester about it she turned her attention to the front.

The morning classes passed quickly and Rachel found herself walking into the lunch room beside Artie. He was telling her that he was excited about their glee performances.

"I'm excited as well. I had so much fun this weekend." She replied as she sat in between Santana and Noah. She felt a strange warmth in her stomach as Noah threw his arm around her shoulder with a smile before turning back to his conversation with Mike about Super Mario. Glancing at Santana she noticed the fiery brunette grinning at the two of them.

"What are you grinning at San? You're making me nervous."

"Nothing that you need to worry about Chica," She looked across the room quickly and her grin faded a bit. "Well maybe not at this moment anyways."

Rachel's eyes followed hers to the jock table to find Finn glaring furiously at Noah and herself. Glaring back determinedly she settled herself more comfortably against Noah and smiled at Santana.

"I'm perfectly comfortable San." She answered with the smallest of shrugs.

"Berry, every day you manage to get hotter."

"Back off Lopez." Noah glared lightly in her direction unconsciously pulling Rachel just the tiniest bit closer to his side.

Santana just laughed aloud and turned to exchange a devious smile with Quinn.

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><p>There it is. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know, Thanks!<p>

Music used was 'Sex on fire' by Kings of Leon. Just 'cause I thought it would get Puck a little bothered.


	15. The hands around my throat

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

I own nothing.

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><p>Rachel had just finished placing her books in her locker when it was slammed shut. Whirling to face a very angry Mercedes; Rachel did her best to stifle a sigh. Stepping back slightly she prepared herself for what she predicted would be a very unpleasant confrontation. When the girl in front of her did nothing but glare at her, Rachel found her patience slipping.<p>

"Was there something you needed Mercedes? We're going to be late for Glee and you've more than proven your ability to glare at me during practice. So if that's all you were planning on doing I'd like it very much if we could proceed to the choir room." She finished wearily as she watched the girl's nostrils flare with irritation.

"Listen up you horrible little gremlin. I plan on taking the lead from now on. People for some reason are pretending to like you but I refuse to do the same. This is my last year and you better believe I have no intention of sharing any spotlight with you." She said as she stepped into Rachel's already limited space.

"Is that all?" Rachel asked through her clenched teeth.

"Stay the fuck away from my man." She yelled.

"Shane? I don't think I've ever even talked to him bef-" she started in confusion.

"Sam! Stay the hell away from Sam. Santana talks a lot of game when she threatens but I promise I'll cut you if you lay a finger on what is mine!" She shouted in Rachel's face.

"Enough! I refuse to be treated like this by you. And I absolutely refuse to let you treat Sam in this way. Either choose to be with him or leave him alone Mercedes. I have no intention of dating Sam. But I won't let you treat him like a backup either!" Rachel yelled pushing Mercedes out of her face. "You're just as bad as Finn was with Quinn and I! Sam is a good person and he deserves to be with a good person. And you aren't a good person, not anymore. Back. Off!"

Rachel shouldn't have been surprised when Mercedes threw herself at her with a scream of rage. As her head bounced off of a locker and onto the floor, she was definitely grateful that her locker was near the choir room. Mercedes' hands had only just closed around her throat when Noah and Sam were yanking her furiously off of Rachel. Santana was screeching in spanish as Mr. Schuester dragged Mercedes to Mr. Figgins' office. Noah dropped to his knees beside a gasping Rachel and lifted her chin to look for damage.

"Noah? Sam?" She choked out as her vision cleared.

"Oh my God Rachel. I'm so sorry. I can't believe that she tried to..." Sam trailed off looking upset.

"Don't worry about it." She panted a bit as Quinn brought her a bottle of water.

"Probably a good thing that the two of you are so damn loud baby. We all heard the two of you yelling at each other from the choir room. We had just poked our heads out the door when she threw herself at you." He said as he examined her worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Rachel noticed the soft tone his voice took when he was worried. Smiling up at him she crawled into his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. His arms came around her and hugged her close. She listened as his frantic heartbeat started to slow and fell asleep.

Rachel awoke in a hospital room and noticed that she was hooked up to an IV. She was confused and started to panic. She was damn near frantic when Noah walked into the room with a coffee cup. Calming almost instantly she asked him why she was in a hospital bed. He sat down beside her and took her hand.

"When Mercedes attacked you, you hit your head against the lockers and then the floor. You passed out pretty quickly." He said with a pained smile.

"Oh. Is Sam ok? He was really upset I think." She asked as she gingerly touched the bump on the back of her head.

"Yeah he's fine. He was sitting around feeling guilty so Quinn took him to grab some dinner." He smirked when he saw her smile. "I knew you were trying to set that up!"

She smiled innocently at his accusation and asked if her fathers had been called.

"Nah. The doctors weren't too worried and I figured you'd be upset if they had to come home early."

She squeezed his hand in gratitude and thought back on the incident.

"What happened after I feel asleep?"

"I carried you out to my truck and Sam drove us here. The rest of the Glee club followed except Schue, Mercedes and Finn. Santana kept yelling at the nurses in Spanish because she was worried." He smiled at the memory. "She kinda loves you hey?"

"Apparently." Rachel's lips twitched as happiness flooded her insides.

"So does everyone else. They all panicked when you passed out in my lap. Quinn started crying and so did Brittany. Artie yelled at Finn that if he wasn't nice to you from now on he'd smack wrath down on him like the hand of God." He stopped talking as she laughed. "Mr. Schue showed up a bit later to check on you."

"Mercedes is going to be awful after this." Rachel chewed on her bottom lip in worry.

"She's suspended indefinitely. Schue told her that she's out of the club too."

Rachel's eyes widened as she thought about what Noah had told her. She wondered how she felt about this. She didn't like Mercedes anymore. She was selfish and mean, not to mention the whole choking Rachel to death attempt. But she was still a part of the Glee family.

"I don't think we should kick her out. She was wrong and I agree with her being suspended because she could have seriously hurt me. But I don't think that we should kick her out." She said as she wrinkled her eyebrows in thought.

"Rach, I'm not letting that psycho bitch within 50 feet of you before she undergoes some serious shock therapy."

"Thanks Noah." She said pulling his arm until he was settled on the bed beside her. She cuddled herself closer to him as he placed an arm over her waist. Her breathing evened out quickly.

"Always, B." He sighed against her hair.

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><p>Oh the drama. Please review!<p> 


	16. Sweet Dreams

How frustrating was last night's episode? I really wish I had turned it off after Quinn's advice to Rachel. Ah well. Here's the next chapter.

I own nothing.

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><p>Rachel was released from the hospital the next morning. She had protested heavily about being kept overnight but the doctor had been worried about a concussion. Santana had picked her up from the hospital and driven her home to grab some fresh clothes and a shower. She had laughed when Rachel had insisted on going to school despite everything. Pulling into the parking lot just before classes let out for lunch the two girls walked to Rachel's locker. The bell rang and Rachel winced minutely at the way it worsened the residual headache. Her pain had not gone unnoticed as she found herself being dragged to the nurse's office for some painkillers. From there, they headed to the cafeteria to join the gleeks. All of them got up and hugged her as the student body watched. Rachel realised with some discomfort that everyone had heard about the fight with Mercedes.<p>

"Screw 'em." Noah whispered in her ear and he held her tightly against him. Letting go, he pulled her on the bench beside him and wrapped an arm around her waist. Rachel smiled brightly at her friends as they finished fussing over her and went back to their lunches.

Rachel noticed that Finn had a rather dark black eye as he walked by their table with a glare. She whirled on Noah accusingly who had turned to look at Artie in surprise. When Artie simply shrugged his shoulders and said that he had warned him Noah roared with laughter. Realising what his words meant, Rachel found her shoulders shaking in laughter as well. Artie had just winked at her before sending a threatening glare at a suddenly nervous looking Finn.

Rachel left the lunch room 30 minutes later laughing again. The gleeks had spent the rest of lunch bugging Artie to explain how he had done it.

"I'll never tell. And I can almost guarantee he won't either." He grinned evilly before leaving for his next class.

Rachel and Puck exchanged amused glances again and Santana high-fived Quinn. Rachel's eyes caught Sam's as he regarded her worriedly. Excusing herself from the others she walked over to Sam at his locker. His eyes widened in surprise when she wrapped her arms around his middle. She stood that way until he relaxed into the hug.

"I'm not mad at you Sam. How could I possibly be angry with you for what Mercedes did? You didn't ask me to defend you and you certainly didn't tell her to lash out and try to hurt me. You're my friend and I know for a fact that you've defended me in the past. Let me do the same." He stared at her thoughtfully before pulling her closer and whispering a 'Thank you' into her ear.

Sam was so relieved that Rachel wasn't mad at him. He had been so worried when Mercedes had tried to hurt her. His eyes wandered over to his friends and he laughed nervously when he saw the glare that Puck was shooting at the two of them. Shaking his head slightly he stepped back out of Rachel's embrace.

"You're an amazing friend Rachel." He said loudly enough for the tension in Puck's shoulders to ease.

Rachel just shot him a smile before walking back to Puck and asking him to walk with her to her locker. Sam caught a smile between Santana and Quinn and decided to ask them about it after school.

Rachel hooked her arm through Noah's and they walked towards her locker. She felt him lean against the locker next to hers as she fiddled with her lock.

"How's your head?" he asked quietly as if he knew she still had a headache.

"It's still a little sore. Santana found some Advil for me earlier so the headache has faded a bit. It's probably for the best that Glee was rescheduled for tomorrow instead of today. I'm sure I'll be feeling much better by tomorrow!" she announced with determination.

"Only you could decide to get over a concussion in time for a performance." He laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him.

She closed her locker door and waivered a bit as she stepped towards him. She hoped that he hadn't noticed but she knew that his sharp hazel eyes caught everything. His hands shot out to her arms as he steadied her.

"I'll drive you home."

"Noah I insist that I will be absolutely fine. I shouldn't miss anymore classes today. It would be negligent of me to-"

"Berry, everyone knows about what happened yesterday. None of your teachers are expecting you." He said as he steered her towards the front doors.

"What about you Noah? You shouldn't miss any classes."

"I've been to like every class this year. Ditching a few isn't a big deal babe." He was reaching into his pockets for his keys now.

"Won't your mom be upset if the school calls?" Her forehead wrinkled with worry.

"Baby, all I have to do is mention your name and my mom melts. She'll probably gush about how proud she is of me for taking care of you." He grinned when she blushed and got into the truck obediently.

They spent the afternoon cuddling on the couch watching a Friends marathon. She fell asleep in his arms after a few episodes and he was too comfortable to leave her. Eventually he drifted off to sleep himself. He was sitting in the auditorium and he was listening to her sing. He didn't know what song she was singing, but she was owning it. He doubted that the original singer sounded even a fraction of how great Rach did. As she finished the song he walked up the stairs and onto the stage. Pulling her close he looked into her eyes and saw no hesitation. Cupping her face, he pulled it towards his own. His lips moved softly against hers and she sighed in contentment. He was startled awake as Rachel buried herself closer into his chest. Staring at her peaceful face, he thought back on his dream. The kiss had seemed so real. His pulse quickening and his breathing becoming shaky as her lips teased his own.

"Huh." He breathed out.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know.<p> 


	17. From Noah

Here it is. Enjoy!

I own nothing unfortunately (If I did then Rachel would have listened to Quinn and dumped Finn.)

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><p>Rachel awoke alone in her bed. Opening her eyes she tried to remember how she had gotten there. Noah had driven her home and they had watched tv for a while. She must have fallen asleep at some point. She remembered waking up in his arms as he slept and feeling complete before closing her eyes again. He must have woken up and carried her up to her room. Glancing over at her alarm clock she saw that it was about 7 pm. Her stomach growled loudly as she threw back the covers and left her bed. She opened her door and headed down the stairs to the kitchen. As she prepared a snack she noticed a note sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen.<p>

_Hey babe,_

_I had to go home and cook dinner for the brat. I didn't want to wake ya, cause you're supposed to get a ton of sleep after a head injury. (I know what i'm talking about babe.) I think Satan and Q wanted to hang tonight so give them a call if you're feeling ok. I'll pick ya up for school tomorrow._

_P-_

**_Noah._**

Rachel smiled as she noticed how he had signed the note. As she noticed that he had scratched Puck out she giggled. She doubted that he had ever signed a letter that way before. With a renewed bounce in her step she headed to the dining room table and grabbed her phone. Checking her text messages she saw that she had texts from both Santana and Quinn asking her to hang out. Texting them back and telling them to come over, she turned back to her fruit and finished it quickly. She was washing her bowl in the sink when the doorbell rang. She walked to the front door and opened it.

"Hey Rachel." Quinn said as she walked into the house.

"Sup Berry. We're not going to run into a naked Puckerman or anything are we? Coz we could come back if you want if you need to finish." Santana teased.

Rachel spluttered and blushed profusely.

"Leave her alone Santana. She hasn't figured it out yet." Quinn chided from the couch.

Rachel heard Santana mutter something in Spanish before she made her way into the kitchen. Rachel followed her and watched as her friend dug through her fridge before declaring that she wasn't eating rabbit shit. Deciding that they were going out, she dragged Rachel to the front door where Quinn was waiting.

"San's voice carries." She said simply when Rachel seemed confused.

The three of them got into Santana's bright red car and sang along to the music while they drove around in search of a place to eat. Deciding on the diner that Noah had taken her a few days before, they settled into a booth at the back.

"You hungry B?" Santana asked as the hostess walked away.

"I'm surprisingly hungry. I just ate a snack but I don't remember eating much yesterday." Rachel said as she browsed her menu.

"We were here on Sunday," Quinn commented as she looked through the menu. "Puck, Rachel, Sam and I came here for breakfast."

"I'd be pissed that y'all forgot to invite me, but it sounds like a hot double date. I'd hate to be the third wheel." Santana smirked when she got blushes and stuttering responses out of both of them this time.

"It wasn't a date." Quinn said quickly.

"How could it possibly be a double date Santana? None of us are dating." Rachel said as she avoided her eyes.

"Uh huh." Santana said as she tried to decide on what she was going to eat.

The waitress came by with their drinks and took their orders. As she walked away Santana turned back to the girls sitting across from her with an evil grin.

"You don't have to dating somebody to wanna fuck them." She laughed loudly when Rachel swallowed her water the wrong way.

Quinn glared at Santana as she patted Rachel's back. Santana only laughed harder as Rachel's face turned red in embarrassment.

"Santana!" Quinn barked in irritation.

"Come on Blondie. We all know you want Sammy boy. Trouty mouth is hot and that mouth of his is talented if you know what I mean." she laughed at the blushing girls across from her. "It's really not a big deal and I can guarantee he doesn't want Bitchedes after what she did to Rachel."

Quinn glared at Santana but said nothing.

"As for Berry here, she's wanted a piece of little Puck for years." She grinned as Rachel's blush spread.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Santana!" She whispered indignantly.

"Yeah right! Ever wondered why whenever things go badly with Finn you end up beside or under Puck?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sophomore year when he decided to stop chasing you for Q, you dated Puck. Run Joey Run. That shit was seriously lame but super hot. Last year whenever Finn yelled at you or tried to get you to change you ended up at Puck's house. When you found out about me and Finn you ended up under Puck. You practically begged him to take your virginity."

"I cannot believe that he told you that!" Rachel slapped a hand on the table in anger.

"Rach, he showed up at my house a damn mess after. Of course he told me. He also told me that he'd lied to you when he left."

"What are you talking about? He didn't want to hurt Finn again." Rachel grimaced as she remembered him leaving. She had cried for hours.

Santana and Quinn shared a glance and Quinn nodded her head slightly before Santana continued.

"He didn't give a shit about Finn B. He didn't want to be a regret. He knew you'd wake up the next morning and cry and hate him." Santana said hesitantly. She kind of hoped that he didn't hate her for telling Rachel. He had been really broken up about it.

She watched as Rachel's mouth opened to protest before her eyes glazed over as she turned it over in her mind. Santana looked over to Quinn who was hiding a smile at Rachel's reaction. Maybe this wasn't going to be so difficult.

Rachel didn't say much for the rest of the meal and they didn't say anything else about it. As Santana dropped Rachel off at her house that night she climbed out of the car and said 'Thanks.'

Santana had a feeling that Rachel was thanking them for a lot more than just taking her out for dinner.

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><p>I originally had the 'Puck' crossed out but this format wouldn't take it.<p>

Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing for this story. Let me know what you thought of the chapter.


	18. In Good Hands

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. Enjoy!**

**I own nothing**

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><p><strong>Yeah we kissed out in the SNOOOOOOOOOW. SNOOOOOOOOOOOW!<strong>

Rachel slapped the snooze button and huffed in irritation. She hadn't slept nearly enough. Instead she had tossed and turned all night as a result of her conversation with Santana and Quinn the night before. Throwing the cover over her head in frustration she thought back on what Santana had said.

"_He didn't give a shit about Finn B. He didn't want to be a regret. He knew you'd wake up the next morning and cry and hate him." Santana said hesitantly._

She had completely waved off the other girl's words as she said them thinking that they were absurd. Noah could never be a regret. She had dreamed of her first time being with someone she loved and Finn had been that person at the time. Noah was one of her best friends though and she loved him in her own way as well. She had asked because she was angry with Finn admittedly, but she wouldn't have asked anyone else. She trusted that not only would he not brag about it later, but that he would make sure her first time was special. She had known that he would take care of her. She had been relieved a few days later that he had stopped her but not because she would regret sleeping with him. She hadn't wanted to cheat on her boyfriend, not really. Sleeping with Noah wouldn't have been something that she'd later regret; she just would have felt bad for doing so while she was still with Finn. She felt sad as she realised that he had felt that way. She supposed that she couldn't really blame him considering the way she had been behaving. She growled at herself in irritation as she realised that she had used him just like all of the cheerleaders and lonely 'milfs' had over the years.

Deciding to skip her morning routine, she headed downstairs and threw a batch of his favourite sugar cookies in the oven. She quickly grabbed a shower and got ready while the cookies cooled. She curled her hair as she glanced at the clock. Noah wouldn't arrive for a while so she had time to ice the cookies before school.

She had just placed all of the iced cookies in a Tupperware container when she heard his truck thunder up her driveway. She hurried around the kitchen and headed out the door. He was leaning against his truck again with a big smile on his face. She headed towards him nervously as Santana's words echoed through her mind. He kissed her temple before opening the door for her. She smiled as she watched him walk around his truck and get in the other side.

"Are you ok B? You look tired." Noah's eyebrows threaded together in concern.

"I didn't sleep well," she answered, thrusting the cookies in his direction.

She smiled as he opened the lid and exclaimed happily.

"I LOVE these cookies. Nothin' tastier than your famous apology cookies," she watched as his forehead crinkled in confusion before he turned to face her. "Berry, why are you handing me apology cookies?"

"Do you not want them?" she asked innocently deflecting his question.

"You know I love your cookies Rach. What are you apologizing for?" he asked as he drove towards McKinley.

"Well you see I was having a conversation with Santana and Quinn last night and I realised that I had inadvertently hurt you last year." She trailed off unsure of how to continue.

"What are you talking about?"

"We never really talked about it," she bravely caught his confused eyes before continuing. "That night that I asked you to sleep with me? You left so quickly and we never really mentioned it afterwards."

She watched as his eyebrows shot up and his mouth opened in surprise.

"There ain't nothing to apologize for Berry." he answered gruffly.

"Well I feel that I should regardless. It has come to my attention that I may or may not have used you in my quest to feel better and make Finn unhappy," she took a deep breath. "I've always disliked the way that girls would use you for some fun and then walk away after because I believe that you are so much better than that. You were a fantastic boyfriend during the brief time that we dated and any girl should be honoured to call herself yours. I realised that I did the exact same thing, but on top of all that I asked you to betray your best friend again in the process. I am so sorry for that Noah."

She watched as his knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. He seemed to be turning her words over in his mind.

"I didn't mind you know. You were hurt and we were friends. I just didn't want to take advantage of you when you were like that. You never would have asked some one for that if you hadn't been so upset. I didn't leave for Finn, I left for you B." He replied quietly.

"You're wrong Noah. I was upset and I shouldn't have asked you for that while I was still with Finn. But I asked you because I trusted you. You're right that I wouldn't have asked anyone else, but I asked you because I trust you completely. Not because you're only good for sex, but because I knew you'd take care of me."

He looked at her in some surprise as he parked his truck in the school parking lot.

"I would have regretted cheating on Finn because it would have been wrong. But I could never regret being with you in any way Noah. You're a great person and my life is greatly improved simply because you are a part of it." She said earnestly.

"Santana told you that I stopped by her house after." His eyes were clearly showing a sense of betrayal.

"She told me something I needed to hear. Please don't be angry with her Noah. I wouldn't have mentioned it but I needed you to know that I value you and I would have been in good hands if you hadn't left my room last winter. The fact that you left at all only proves that I can trust you with such matters."

She was a little surprised when he pulled her across the seat and into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and inhaled deeply. She felt him smile against her hair before kissing her head gently and letting go of her. They both left the vehicle and headed towards the school. Rachel grinned as he threw his arm around her shoulder, pulling her to his side closely.

"Damn right you would have been in good hands baby. I'm sure you'd love what these hands can do." He leered at her.

Rachel considered chastising him for ruining the moment but found herself snorting with laughter instead.

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><p>Kind of short, but important. Let me know what you think.<p>

**Rachel's alarm was 'Snow' by The Zolas. (fantastic song and band)**


	19. Bunnies on Speed

I finished the very last chapter for this story today. So in celebration I decided to add another update tonight. Enjoy!

I own nothing.

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><p>Mr. Schuester had the flu so Glee had been cancelled for the week and their perfomances were rescheduled for the following Tuesday. The next few days passed quickly and Rachel was excited about the weekend. Closing her locker, she adjusted her book bag on her shoulder and headed to the gymnasium to watch Sam and Noah's basketball practice. Entering the gym, she headed for the bleachers where she sat down and pulled out her homework for the weekend. After an hour or so of math equations she put her books back in her bag and sat back to watch the practice.<p>

She was surprised to see that half of the boys weren't wearing shirts. She found herself staring at the hard contours of Noah's chest as he passed the ball to Sam before running up the court. Finn didn't have abdominals like Noah that's for sure. She was staring at his nipple ring when he turned towards her catching her in the act. He smirked and blew her a kiss as she blushed profusely at being caught admiring his body. Composing herself she sat back and did her best to watch all of the boys practicing avoiding Noah's beautiful body altogether. She was just answering a text message from Quinn when she felt him throw himself onto the bleacher beside her. Looking up to greet him she found herself staring at his naked chest again. Her eyes unfocused for a moment before they trailed up to his grinning face.

"Always knew you thought I was hot Berry. You've got the tiniest bit of drool right there." He said jokingly as he pretended to dab at the corner of her mouth.

Rachel found herself blushing as he touched her face. Looking up at his face she noticed that he was no longer smiling and his eyes had taken a darker hue. She was surprised to see her own hand gently holding his hand to her face. She certainly didn't remembering putting it there. She found herself leaning in as she watched his eyes get even darker. His eyes were on her lips as he began to dip his head towards her own.

"Hey! Lovebirds! Stop mating on the bleachers, or I'll vomit profusely!" They both turned to face an angry Sue Sylvester and removed their hands from each other immediately.

"Blech! You glee kids procreate like bunnies on speed. Like we need anymore showtunes singing, sparkle spewing losers running around this school! YOU MAKE ME SICK!" She yelled before stomping out of the gym.

The two teens turned to look at each other a little awkwardly before bursting into laughter. Rachel was so relieved that the awkwardness didn't last. Trying to shake the close encounter out of her mind she stood up and asked if he was ready to go.

"Yeah Baby, let's head out before Sue Syl-psycho comes back." He grinned when she giggled at the nickname. Puck threw his arm around her shoulder naturally before they headed out of the gym.

Sam smiled as he heard Rachel tell Noah to put on a shirt before touching her. He laughed aloud when he heard Puck suggest that she take hers off instead. Grabbing his cell phone out of his bag he followed the couple at a distance.

"Q? They're on their way out. Sylvester just gave them a hard time about being touchy in public but I swear they almost kissed on the bleachers in the gym." He grinned when she shrieked in excitement before hanging up.

"Noah! I will not take my shirt off in public!" Rachel announced.

"So you're saying that you'll do it in private? Can I watch? Coz baby I'm totally up for that." He smirked with hopeful eyes before she growled and hit his chest in irritation as she waited for him to unlock her door.

Getting into the truck Rachel's eyes followed Noah as he walked around the truck and got in. The boy refused to put on his shirt; it was the middle of winter for God's sake.

"Noah I really must insist that you put your shirt on. You're going to catch a cold."

"Aw Berry, worried about my health?" He nudged her playfully.

"Noah!"

"Getting distracted by the bod Berry? 'Cause I could take off the rest of my clothes too if you'd like." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

He stared in shock when Rachel didn't immediately shoot him down. If he didn't know any better he'd think she was actually considering it. She cleared her throat awkwardly and turned to face the window. She totally wanted to see him naked!

"Can you drive me home Noah? I'm supposed to go to the mall with Santana and Quinn." She deflected.

Puck just smirked as he realised that she was even more hot and bothered than he was by their almost-kiss in the gym. She was silent the whole way home glancing at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Yeah Rachel totally thought he was hot.

"Thanks for the ride Noah." She said as she quickly exited the truck and hurried up her driveway. He idled his truck in her driveway for a few moments as he thought over their conversation the other day. He had been admittedly pissed at Santana for spilling about that night, but he learned a lot from the conversation that followed. He had just assumed that Rachel wanted to get back at Finn so she had chosen the guy who'd already stolen Finn's girlfriend before. He figured that his previous experience with the girls around Lima had factored into the situation a bit as well. He was surprised when she had told him that she had asked because she had trusted him to make it special for her. He'd pictured deflowering Berry a million times and he'd been pretty damn crushed when Finn had asked for his advice in the locker room a few months back.

As he manoeuvred his way out of her driveway he wondered how horrible it had been. He had known the morning after that they had finally done it because of the smug grin on Finn's face as he walked through the hallways like he owned them. Rachel on the other hand had the perfect poker face. Her total lack of joy the next day answered his question for him though. The girl was great at covering up disappointment but could never hide a smile when she was happy. He was disappointed and relieved that it clearly hadn't gone well. He couldn't stand the idea of the two of them sleeping together and the fact that she clearly hadn't enjoyed it made it less likely to happen again. But he was really angry with Finn for fucking up such an important moment for her.

Throwing his keys on the counter, he made his way up to his bedroom and threw himself tiredly on his bed. He would've made it special for her, she would have enjoyed it. He didn't regret walking away last year, because he cared about her too much to help her make such a big mistake. But the relief that he felt when she told him that being with him could never be a regret? Fucking awesome.

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><p>There you go! Let me know what you think!<p> 


	20. I don't understand

Hey guys, I'm amazed by how many reviews I've received for this story. Thanks to everyone who's read it so far. There are only a few more chapter left. I'm just reworking the last chapter a bit. This chapter is really important so Enjoy!

I own nothing

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><p>"A little birdie told us that you shared a moment of the intimate variety with Puck," Quinn said smugly as she sat down across from Rachel in the food court. "Or should I say Noah?"<p>

Rachel jolted in her seat and stared up at Quinn and Santana in surprise.

"W-who told you that?" She stuttered quietly.

Santana and Quinn glanced at each other before giggling and pretending to zip their mouths closed. Rachel huffed in irritation and tossed a French fry at each of them.

"If you must know the two of us shared a moment on the bleachers but I hardly think that it meant anything. Noah and I sometimes find ourselves in situations such as these." She said as she stabbed at her salad.

"Why do you think that is?" Santana asked in mock confusion.

"Well Noah says that it's 'Cause we're two hot Jews and it's only natural baby." She said in a pretty accurate Puck impression as the other two snorted in laughter.

"And you disagree?" Quinn prodded.

"I believe that the two of us have a chemistry that causes reactions in extreme ways. For example he didn't like me at the beginning of high school so he began the slushy tradition. Which is more than a little extreme." She finished thoughtfully.

Quinn and Santana shared another glance before laughing hysterically. Rachel raised an eyebrow in question.

"I don't understand why you think it's so funny!" Rachel huffed as she crossed her arms in irritation.

"Just tell her San." Quinn said as Rachel turned to face the other brunette.

"He didn't throw slushies at you because he disliked you Berry."

"Then why did he do it? He ruined many of my favourite clothes and unfortunately slushies became the bullying tool of choice after." Rachel huffed. "It really was the perfect bullying device; equal parts stinging eyes, ruined clothes and humiliation."

"He threw it at you because he thought you were beautiful." Santana answered honestly.

"Santana that makes absolutely no sense at all. Besides Noah thinks that a lot of girls are hot, and he never slushied either one of you." Rachel said resolutely.

"Hot isn't the right word San," Quinn said thoughtfully. "More like beautiful. Because he's never looked at any other girl the way he looks at you. He and I had a baby together Berry, and the only other girl he's ever looked at that way was Beth."

Rachel sat back in shock and tried to form an argument as Santana continued.

"Think about it Berry. I was literally standing next to him the first time he did it. He had been watching you all week and then he heard some of the jocks talking about wanting you. Throwing a slushy on you was him marking you as his. He made you undatable."

"But that defeats the whole purpose! If I was undatable than Noah couldn't date me either." Rachel exclaimed.

"Rach, Puck was the first guy you dated. He didn't care what people thought. Being told that he couldn't date you would only make the whole thing hotter for him." Santana reasoned.

Rachel sat back and thought about it for a few moments before looking back up at the other girls.

"But that was over two years later. Why did he wait so long?"

"He thought you were too good for him. It's why he made you undatable instead of actually asking you out. He also knew that you deserved being more than just a fuck-buddy B. So he got that out of his system while he manned up. This is Puck we're talking about." Santana finished with Quinn nodding in agreement.

"I don't believe you." Rachel said as she shook her head.

"Yes, you do. You're just afraid." Quinn replied gently.

"I'm not afraid! Whatever would I be afraid of?" Rachel demanded.

"I dunno Berry? Maybe finding out that the only guy in this whole damn town who's worthy of you has wanted you since grade school?" Santana muttered sarcastically and she instantly regretted it when Quinn kicked her under the table.

Santana and Quinn watched as Rachel panicked. She couldn't believe the bull-stuff that the two girls were spouting off at her. She didn't understand why they would tell her such lies. Noah was one of her best friends and he had always been there for her. Well since he joined Glee anyways. Rachel cocked her head to the side as she realised that he'd never allowed others to slushy her. She'd seen him hit another football player after he slushied her the year before he joined the club. Huh.

"I don't understand," She said quietly as she stared down at her hands. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Don't worry about it B. I shouldn't have said anything," Santana replied apologetically. "Let's shop."

The three girls took their trays to the garbage can and headed out into the mall to look for new clothes. Rachel trailed behind them a step as she tried to make sense of the thoughts buzzing around. She followed the girls into a clothing store and accepted the various items before being shoved into a fitting room. On autopilot she tried on the clothes that they passed her and did her best to have an opinion on them all. She found herself just too distracted by the knowledge that Noah had feelings for her that she hadn't known about. He had been making jokes and alluding to them being together forever; but she had thought they were just jokes because of the way that he said them. She felt her cheeks grow warm are she realised that Noah, her Noah wanted to be with her. Looking up at the mirror she didn't notice the colour of the dress that she was wearing but the smile on her face. Interesting.

"Berry get your hot ass out here. We want to see that little blue dress." Santana drawled from the other side of the door.

Rachel stepped out and allowed them to make their comments about what she was wearing. She was drawn out of her thoughts as Santana and Quinn high-fived.

"I knew she liked him! Do you see that smile?" Quinn squealed happily.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyone who's spent two minutes with them know that they wanna fuck." Santana answered gruffly, but Rachel noticed the grin on her face.

The two girls turned to face Rachel as if they had forgotten she was there. Rachel started laughing before heading back into the fitting room. She listened more carefully as she tried on the next outfit. From what they were whispering she realised that the two of them had been conspiring with Sam to reunite 'Puckleberry'. Rachel grinned when she heard their nickname. She had always thought that Puckleberry sounded better than Finchel.

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><p>There it is. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know.<p> 


	21. That Damn Showsmile

Here's the second to last chapter. Enjoy

I own nothing.

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><p>Puck glared at jewfro as he walked into McKinley high on Monday morning. His weekend had sucked major balls. Rachel had blown him off all weekend, clearly panicking about their near-miss on Friday at basketball practice. He had decided that he'd see her when he picked her up on Monday morning and that he'd figure out where her head was at. So he'd been pretty fucking choked when she texted him last night to tell him that she was getting a ride with Santana. Effing Satan totally cockblocked him on that one. Opening his locker he threw his bag inside and grabbed his books for first class. He thought about skipping since he shared that class with Rachel. It was one thing to think that she was panicking and avoiding him. It was another to actually have to see it. Sighing heavily, he slammed his locker shut and headed to first period.<p>

"Hello Noah!" Rachel exclaimed when he threw himself into the chair beside her. He just turned to look at her in surprise. He had half-expected her to run scared when he showed up. Although the closer he looked he realised that it wasn't a real smile that she had aimed in his direction. It was that damn show smile. Eff his life.

"Berry." He replied before turning back to his book. Maybe it wasn't super mature but he was pretty pissed that she was being so weird. The two of them had made out a ton of times. They were two hot Jews, it was only natural. She hadn't wigged out like this before.

"How was your weekend? Mine was fantastic! I went to the mall with San and Q on Friday, but of course you already knew about that!" she laughed nervously. "Then I spent Saturday and Sunday working on something for Glee. I think it'll be very good. I'm very excited about performing actually and I-" She stopped when he held up a hand.

"Berry you're speaking at a speed that I can't understand. So if you could calm down a bit and stop rambling nervously that would be great." He said.

Rachel just sat back and blushed at having been caught so easily.

"I know that 'm hot Berry, but that's no reason to get nervous." He joked because he felt like a jerk for snapping at her. He was rewarded with a snort of laughter and a REAL smile.

"I'm sorry Noah. I just had a strange weekend."

"Strange?" He questioned with interest.

"How about we hang out after glee tonight? I'll tell you all about it?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"Sure B. I'm all yours." He answered before raising his brows in confusion. His answer had caused Rachel to blush profusely. She smiled quickly before turning back to going over her homework.

He stared at her for a moment and just as he opened his mouth to ask her what the hell was going on, the teacher walked in and started the lesson. Shaking his head in irritation he sat back and pretended to listen to the lecture as he watched Rachel in his periphery. She was being weird and he planned on getting to the bottom of it.

The bell rang and Rachel shot up and out of her desk like a bat out of hell.

"See you later Noah!" she shouted over her shoulder as she ran from the classroom. Puck looked up to see several pairs of curious eyes on him. Shrugging his shoulders and muttering about 'her own personal brand of crazy' he got up and walked out as well.

He spent the next two periods thinking over her strange behaviour in their class and decided to confront her about it at lunch. He obviously wanted to kiss her, but if she was going to be so weird about it then he'd cool it. She was his best friend and yeah he'd love it if they could add some sex to the equation, but it wasn't worth losing her. She was the one person who believed in him fully with no strings attached. She had made him work his ass off since juvie. And she was the reason that a letter from NYU had been waiting for him when he got home from basketball practice on Friday. He had really wanted to tell her in person, but she was being a spaz and he was choked about it.

He walked into the lunch room and sat down at his usual table, nodding at the gleeks who were already assembled there. Sam came in and the two quickly got into a heated debate about the UFC matchup on Saturday and before he knew it lunch was over. He realised with great irritation that Rachel had never showed up for lunch.

"Have you seen Berry, Evans?" He glared when the boy shook his head. The midget had managed to avoid him yet again. Grumbling he got up and headed to his locker for his next class.

He managed to walk past her locker in between each class that afternoon and didn't see her at all. He began to wonder if she had gone home. Realising that maybe he was overreacting, he stopped by Santana's locker before last period.

"Where's the midget Lopez?" he growled when she just laughed and turned back to her locker.

"She's around I'm sure."

"Seriously Satan why's she avoiding me?" He did his best to keep the hurt out of his tone. He failed miserably apparently because the devil herself turned to him with something akin to pity in her eyes.

"She's not avoiding you. She's worried about her Glee song today. So just leave her alone until then. I promise it'll all be worth it." Santana answered slowly before heading off to her class.

Puck glared after her and decided to let it drop until Glee practice. He didn't know why Rachel would be nervous about performing. She sang more often than she breathed, and aside from that time she had laryngitis she's always been perfect. He did his best to listen to his teacher and even took notes in an attempt to not obsess over the enigma that was Rachel Berry. He almost raised a fist in victory when the damn bell finally rang. He dropped his books off at his locker and practically sprinted to the choir room. Surprised that he was the first one there, he took a seat in the middle row and waited for the rest of the class.

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><p>There it is. Let me know what you think.<p> 


	22. The Girl in the Mirror

**Hey guys, here's the very last chapter. I just wanted to thank everyone who's read and reviewed this story. It made my day getting constant notifications about people adding this to their favourites/alerts. Enjoy!**

**I own nothing.**

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><p>Rachel stood in the bathroom nervously tugging at the hem of the royal blue dress she had bought on Friday. Quinn was just finishing the last touches on her hair with a curling iron as Santana leaned against the wall in supervision.<p>

"I'm really nervous." Rachel said quietly.

"B, you've sung a million songs in front of us, and you've serenaded Finn a bunch of times." Santana rolled her eyes.

"Yes I know. But this feels bigger, more important somehow. What if Noah doesn't appreciate the message that I'm trying to send?"

"Rach, he was the first boy to serenade anyone in our little club. And he did it for you. He'll love it, I promise," Quinn said as she stepped back to admire Rachel. "You look really nice."

"Thanks." Rachel said as the two girls left her alone in the restroom. She needed a moment to compose herself before she walked into that choir room and laid it all on the line.

She had been able to tell by the way that he looked at her this morning that he was irritated with her for not calling him that weekend. The two of them had spent so much time together lately that it had seemed strange to not see him for a couple of days, but it had felt very necessary. She had spent hours searching for the right song for the situation. She had practiced it endlessly and then Sunday night decided on a different song all together. Quinn had pointed out that it should be from her heart and not over-rehearsed so Rachel had only practiced once in the shower this morning. She had done her very best to avoid him during the day but it had been hard when she realised it was upsetting him. She just needed to sing the song before she talked to him. She had always found it easier to sing her feelings and she knew that Noah was the same way. Sam had been very helpful by offering to distract Noah with sports talk during lunch while she relaxed in the choir room with the girls.

"You can do this." She said confidently as she looked at herself in the mirror. She thought back to the girl that had stared back at her through this mirror a few weeks before. She had stood there picking herself apart, feeling all alone. She smiled when she realised that everything had changed since then. She was friends with almost everyone in Glee and Mr. Schuester had begun to treat her with respect. 'Just the way you are' had become something of a mantra for her since then. Noah managed to tell her daily that she was perfect just the way she was. And to make sure she remembered it, he had changed the ringtones on her phone to 'Just the way you are' by Bruno Mars the week prior. Her friendship with Santana and Quinn had flourished and she valued their friendships greatly. She was happy. She was ready for this.

Rachel grabbed her jacket and threw it on over her dress as she smiled one last time at the mirror before leaving the washroom. She headed to the choir room in excitement. She walked in just a moment before Mr. Schuester and took the empty seat at the front next to Artie. She heard Noah sigh heavily behind her and smiled at his impatience.

"Hey guys! Does anyone have anything prepared today?" He laughed when Rachel's hand shot up in the air and waved for her to come up.

Rachel stood at the front and looked out at the crowd in front of her. Everyone was smiling except Finn. She felt a twinge of sadness over his immaturity but refused to let it ruin her mood. She figured that he and Mercedes would come around eventually. She carefully removed her coat before turning back to face the club.

"The last few weeks have been so incredible for me. We've really come together as a club and I am so honoured to be able to call you all my friends. I look forward to performing our group numbers with you all tomorrow. But for now, I have prepared a song for someone who has been there for me no matter what. Someone who makes my life better just by being a part of it." She finished with a smile before turning to the band and nodding.

Rachel took a step forward and started to sway to the music with a smile on her face. She felt her nervousness disappear as the music took over. She knew that the rawness of the performance was better than a choreographed routine. Santana and Quinn joined her at the front and stood behind her swaying as they provided the backup vocals.

_**Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh**_

**People are talkin', talkin' about people**  
><strong>I hear them whisper, you won't believe it<strong>

_**(Ah ha**_**)  
>They think we're lovers kept under covers<br>**_**(Ooh hoo**_**)  
>I just ignore it, they keep sayin'<strong>

Rachel kept it simple by dancing at the front with a grin on her face, as Santana and Quinn pretended to whisper behind her.

**Laugh just a little too loud**

_**(A little too loud**_**)  
>Stand just a little too close<br>(**_**Too close**_**)  
>Stare just a little too long<br>Maybe they're seein', somethin' we don't darlin'**

Rachel locked eyes with Noah and sang out the chorus. She grinned when she saw the welcome surprise on his face.

**Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about**  
><strong>(<strong>_**Somethin' to talk about**_**)  
>Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about<br>(**_**Somethin' to talk about**_**)  
>I want a little somethin' to talk about<br>I want your love  
><strong>_**(Love love love love**_**)**

Rachel blew a kiss in his direction and smiled when he grinned.

**Well I feel so foolish, I've never noticed that**  
><strong>(<strong>_**Ah ha**_**)  
>Baby you're actin' so nervous like you're fallin'<br>(**_**Ah ha**_**)  
>It took a rumor to make me wonder<br>(**_**Ooh hoo**_**)  
>Now I'm convinced that they're goin' under<strong>

Rachel pointed towards Noah and pretended to fan herself.

**And I think 'bout you everyday**  
><strong>(<strong>_**Everyday**_**)  
>Dreamin' 'bout you every night<br>(**_**Every night**_**)  
>Hopin' that you feel the same way<br>Now that we know it, let's really show it baby  
>(<strong>_**Darlin'**_**)**

Rachel walked towards Noah and grabbed his hand. Pulling him to the front she placed one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand and they started to dance.

**When you come there'll be somethin' to talk about  
>(<strong>_**Somethin' to talk about**_**)  
>A little mystery to figure out<br>(**_**Somethin' to talk about)**_**  
>I want you somethin' to talk about<br>I want your love  
>(<strong>_**Love love love love**_**)**

She smiled when he pulled her closer. She looked up into his eyes as she continued to sing.

**Give 'em something to talk about, babe**  
><strong>I got some mystery, Why don't you just figure out?<strong>  
><strong>Let's give them somethin' to talk about<strong>  
><strong>How about love?<strong>  
><strong>(<strong>_**Love love love love**_**)**

Rachel grinned when Noah joined her for the chorus as he continued to spin her around the room.

**Ooh hoo let's give 'em somethin'**  
><strong>(<strong>_**Somethin' to talk about**_**)  
>Hey a mystery won't hurt<br>(**_**Somethin' to talk about**_**)  
>There is somethin' to talk about<br>How about love? Alright  
>(<strong>_**Love love love love**_**)**

Rachel placed a hand on his cheek as she finished the chorus softly.

**Somethin' to talk about  
>Somethin' to talk about<br>Love love love love**

The whole club started clapping including Finn who joined in with a flinch as Artie shot him a dirty look. They all watched the couple as they stared at each other, waiting to hear what they would say.

"Interesting song." Puck said with a smirk.

"I thought it summed up my feelings perfectly." Rachel answered as he pulled her closer.

"Did you mean it?" He asked quietly.

"Well, I don't think that we should do it for the sake of giving people something to talk abou-"She was cut off as Puck crashed his lips against hers. She smiled into the kiss as the club erupted into a renewed round of cheering.

Rachel pulled back for a moment and looked into his eyes.

"So I guess that's a yes?" Rachel questioned with a smile.

"Baby I've been yours for too long to ever say no." He answered before she threw herself at him. Her fingers tugged on his Mohawk as she kissed him fervently.

The two stood there wrapped around each other as the class continued to cheer. They had just separated when Quinn surprised everyone as she grabbed Sam and laid one on him as well. Blushing furiously, the two separated to the sound of wolf-whistles and the knowing look of a very happy Rachel Berry.

"Puckleberry is back on bitches!" Puck yelled with a fistbump to Santana.

"Noah!" Rachel tried (and failed) for stern as she giggled.

He leaned down to kiss her gently. Breaking the kiss he smiled the smile that only Rachel ever saw as he tugged her even closer.

"Baby, we're two good looking Jews. It's only natural."

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><p>There it is. I hope everyone enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. I may be persuaded to write an epilogue.<p> 


	23. The Finale

**So this epilogue has taken me months to write and for that I apologize. I just lost the feeling for the story and didn't have time to re-read the whole thing. I hope that it lives up to your expectations. Enjoy!**

**I own nothing.**

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><p><strong>Oh but these stories don't mean anything<br>When you've got no one to tell them to  
>It's true, I was made for you<br>Oh yeah, and it's true that I was made for you**

Rachel spread her arms out and finished the note before grinning towards the wings. Her boyfriend of six months walked towards her with his acoustic guitar as the audience roared in approval. She smiled at him as she began to sing.

**Dancin' where the stars go blue  
>Dancin' where the evening fell<br>Dancin' in my wooden shoes  
>In a wedding gown<strong>

They had decided on simple choreography for their duet. The club had insisted that their chemistry sizzled and that they didn't need anything else. Rachel circled Noah as he sang his verse to her with love in his eyes.

**Dancin' out on 7th street  
>Dancin' through the underground<br>Dancin' little marionette  
>Are you happy now?<strong>

Their voices joined together to take the chorus. She stood next to him as he played the guitar. She placed a hand delicately on his shoulder and swayed as their eyes never parted.

**Where do you go when you're lonely**  
><strong>Where do you go when you're blue<strong>  
><strong>Where do you go when you're lonely<strong>  
><strong>I'll follow you<strong>  
><strong>When the stars go blue<strong>  
><strong>When the stars go blue<strong>

Noah took the lead with Rachel echoing him beautifully. She would never get over the way that their voices blended so beautifully. Schuester had wasted so many years trying to get Rachel and Finn's vocals to mix the way that Puckleberry's did effortlessly.

**Laughing with your pretty mouth**  
><strong>Laughing with your broken eyes<strong>  
><strong>Laughing with your lover's tongue<strong>  
><strong>In a lullaby<strong>

The crowd roared in approval as the two of them hit an impressive note strongly. Their chemistry was intoxicating.

**Where do you go when you're lonely  
>Where do you go when you're blue<br>Where do you go when you're lonely  
>I'll follow you<strong>

Their hands tangled together with matching smiles as the crowd roared its approval. Puck handed his guitar to a stage-hand and pulled Rachel into his arms as New Directions paired off for their final number together. Santana and Blaine took the lead and everyone else had a few lines of their own to shine.

Rachel could tell that the crowd was really enjoying their spirited rendition of 'What I like about you' as she was twirled around the stage. All of her friends seemed to be having as much fun as she was.

**That's what I like about you!**

**HEY!**

The crowd was on their feet and their approval was deafening. Rachel was exhilarated as she was pulled off the stage by her friends. She hurled herself into her boyfriend's arms with a squeal of excitement.

"We can win this Noah!" She breathed against his neck and she heard him laugh happily.

He carried her over to one of the corners in their green room and collapsed onto the couch. She snuggled into his lap and closed her eyes contentedly.

They had gone through so much as a group to get here. The past year had been filled with more ups and downs than most groups could handle. But they weren't just any group. They were the New Directions and they were a family.

"Blech, you're so cute I could puke." Santana muttered happily as she walked by them.

Rachel didn't bother opening her eyes even as a smile graced her face.

Santana, along with Quinn had become like a sister to her. Gone were the days of sarcastic torment. The two of them would be joining her and Noah in New York in the fall. Most of New Directions would be there in fact. She had been waiting for Broadway her whole life and having her family with her only made it all that much more perfect.

Noah had proven himself to be the perfect boyfriend for her. That wasn't to say that they didn't have their problems. The two of them fought constantly because of their strong personalities. But they faced things head on and never walked away in anger. She sometimes wondered if their fights actually strengthened their love. She knew that it was definitely good for their sex life.

Finn and Mercedes had eventually ceased to be a problem for the two of them. Rachel had met with the angry girl in a very public coffee shop with Quinn a month after the incident in the hallway. Rachel had explained that she would like to have the Glee Club win Nationals together. She had told Mercedes that they wanted her to still be a part of the group. The two girls had hashed out some of their issues with Quinn mediating. When the issue of Sam had been raised Quinn had icily informed Mercedes that they had been dating for three weeks. The girl had taken a few days to think over the terms of her rejoining the group before sheepishly walking into the choir room the following Monday.

Finn had been threatened into submission by Artie to the amusement of all. Everyone had been surprised when Finn and Mercedes attended prom together, announcing the following week that they were dating. Their attention had been divided between each other and practice, leaving no time to cause drama within the group.

The club had finally become the family, however dysfunctional, that Rachel had desperately longed for. They had been informed that they had placed in the top ten. The team had done their best to celebrate quietly backstage as they awaited their cue. That family gathered together, being ushered back onto the stage to hear the results.

Rachel found herself squished between Quinn and Noah, gripping their hands tightly. She listened impatiently as the announcer named the teams that had placed from tenth to third. She watched everything through a haze as she realised that only New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline were still on the stage. She felt Noah's lips against her temple as they waited anxiously.

"The winners of the 2012 National Show Choir Competition isssssssssssssssssssssssssss New Directions!" The announcer thundered.

Rachel shrieked and threw herself into her boyfriend's arms. He swung her around, placing her back on her feet and pointing her body towards center stage.

"Go get your trophy, Baby." He yelled into her hear over the melee surrounding them. "You did it. You brought us together."

She shook her head and pulled him with her to collect the trophy. As they raised the trophy together his grin was blinding and so filled with love.

This victory was sweet, but it would be eclipsed by greater victories. As he pulled her into his arms once more she decided that Puckleberry was forever and nothing could eclipse how they felt about each other.

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><p><strong>The songs used were The Story by Brandi Carlyle, When the Stars go Blue by Bethany Joy Lenz and Tyler Hilton, What I like about you by Lillix.<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know please? Thanks!**

I hope you enjoyed it.


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